Reality Dawns
by Ruthlyn
Summary: Missy has spent years working toward her dream, and when she finally comes to the end of it, it won't be quite as she expected.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was high in the sky, and the lazily moving clouds were casting shadows on the warm desert sand. In the shade of a towering cliff, a lone figure lay in the sand, eyes closed and unmoving. In the distance, a wolf howled, but otherwise, all was quiet.

Soft footsteps barely broke the silence as a young man crept over to a wooden cart that was parked near the prone figure. His hand reached slowly into the cart; he was looking for something. He bumped one of the many bottles inside, and cringed at the clinking sound made by the glass container tapping the one next to it. The figure on the ground still didn't move, so the young man kept digging, a little more cautiously now. He was growing frustrated because he couldn't seem to find what he was searching for.

"Looking for something?" When the young woman stretched out on the ground spoke, the man jumped, pulling his arm back quickly and knocking a few bottles over.

"Missy," he coughed guiltily. "I thought you were asleep."

"Asleep?" she echoed. "Your conversation there lasted for half an hour. I was just relaxing while I waited." The merchant sat up and eyed her friend. "What were you wanting out of my cart?"

"Um, well…don't you have any bottles of just plain water in here? All I could find were potions."

"Of course I do. I have a system; you just have to know where to look." Missy moved over to her cart and reached in, pushing aside a lazy, pink blob and pulling out what he wanted right away. She held it out to him, but he didn't take it. "Not thirsty?" The guilty look on the swordsman's face made Missy very suspicious. "Naolin?"

He shrugged. "I thought I was going to have to wake you up."

She was about to respond to that, but her words of complaint were stopped by his sheepish smile. It was too hard to be upset with him when he looked at her like that.

"Come on," Naolin said, offering her a hand up, which she accepted. Beanbag also jumped out of her cart and got ready to move.

"We going somewhere?" she questioned, dusting the sand off her clothes and out of her white hair.

"Prontera. That couple I was talking to while you _slept_ is interested in joining Collegato."

Missy looked at him curiously. They were pretty far from Prontera, in a southwestern corner of the Sograt Desert. She knew it was important to him to find the right people to join their guild, but it was unusual for them to stop everything they were doing to meet someone. As they began the walk north, though, Missy recalled Naolin's reaction the day he formed his guild, almost a year ago. He read the notice she pointed out to him and was more excited than she'd ever seen him.

Those Payon officials had finally decided on what to do with the castles of Greenwood Forest. The War of Emperium, they called it. A competition in which guilds would fight over ownership of the castles. They assured everyone that it would be perfectly safe, and that they had been working with people from all of the magical guilds to develop a system that would ensure that all participants would survive the battles.

Missy never understood the concept very well, but apparently someone or something would _somehow_ be monitoring the health of everyone in the castle. At the point where a participant would normally be killed, they would instead be warped back to town, alive and well. They would then have to wait to return to the game.

It still sounded dangerous to Missy, but extensive testing had been done to ensure the reliability of this process. And within months of the announcement made by Payon, three other cities had begun scrambling to clear land and build similar castles of their own.

Of course, Naolin didn't care about those other castles. He really wanted to claim one of the five that already stood in Greenwood Forest. Missy knew that had to be what he was thinking about when he decided to go meet the possible new members today.

* * *

His future plans for the War of Emperium were actually not on his mind at all right now. Normally, he would have let this couple wait until he and Missy were ready to go back to Prontera for other matters, or ask them to meet him closer to where he was. New members were very important, but so was his and Missy's training. She had already missed her chance to become the first alchemist, though he knew that fact bothered him more than it did her. Even still, he was glad to have something to mask his real reason for wanting to go to the capital city. He had business there, and he didn't want Missy to know about it just yet.

As they trudged through the endless desert, Naolin glanced at her, then reached over and took her hand in his. She didn't look at him, but he did see a smile dance on her lips.

For the last few months, the two had had sort of an unspoken relationship. He'd known for years now that there was something between them, but he was no good at this sort of thing. And Missy was far too important to him to risk messing things up by attempting some sort of teenaged, stereotypical, starry-eyed romance. A voice – a very _small_ voice – in his head had once cautioned him that if he waited too long to tell her how he felt, that he would lose her. But all it took was one look into her hazel eyes, and he could see that she cared for him too.

It was important to Naolin to take this slowly, though, to let the relationship progress on its own. Despite the appearance that in the past, trouble seemed to spring up just when he was happiest, and feeling the most at home, he wasn't the kind of person who'd let himself be ruled by the fear that it would happen again. Even still, he couldn't help but be cautious.

A voice in his ear snapped his mind back to reality.

"Missy!" called the voice. It was Dorian on the guild link. Again.

"Yeah, what's going on?" she replied with more patience than Naolin thought the man deserved.

"I just made my first potion!" the alchemist announced excitedly.

Missy congratulated him graciously, and a few other guild members echoed her response.

"What kind of potion?" she asked him.

"Just a simple red one. But you know the quality'll be better 'n what the tool dealer sells."

"How many did you mess up before that one came out?" Naolin asked bluntly.

The link went silent for a moment, and he caught a disapproving look from Missy. He merely shrugged at her. It was a fair question.

"A few, I guess," Dorian finally responded. He sounded appropriately less triumphant now. "I'll get better at it."

The conversation was over at that point, and Naolin found the whole thing amusing.

Dorian was exactly what Missy should have been. He was the first merchant in all of Rune-Midgard to become an alchemist. Naolin hated the guy as soon as he met him. The alchemist had gushed all over Missy when he introduced himself, after practically begging her to meet him in the first place. Apparently, she had become a bit of a celebrity amongst the merchants who were working toward the new job, as well as the handful who had already become alchemists.

Missy, of course, was always polite and kind. She didn't even seem to mind the annoying Dorian, and went as far as to say it was a _good idea_ when he asked to join Collegato. The decision was ultimately up to Naolin, it always was, but her opinions always held more weight with him than she realized.

However, there did come a point – and it came quickly – when they had to agree to limit the amount of alchemists and alchemists-to-be that they allowed into the guild. They all had the mistaken impression that being friends with Missy would help with their training, or even help to speed their job change. Naolin had once offered to chase them all off when they kept pestering her with their questions, their requests to be a member of Collegato, and even their offers for her to join their guilds. But Dorian was proof that Missy was too nice to these people.

Now, over his com-disc, someone was laughing.

* * *

When Missy heard the laughter, she glanced over at the swordsman walking next to her. He was smiling, but not laughing. She didn't think she'd ever get used to these com-discs. She looked down at her sleeve; it was the party link. The only other person in their party was Naolin's brother.

"That was great, man," Drear applauded his brother. "You put that guy in his place."

"You like that?" Naolin replied, his ego undeniably stroked.

"I can't stand that--"

"Come on, guys," Missy cut in before Drear said something she didn't want to hear. "Dorian's not a bad guy. But then, neither of you would know that, because you don't give him a chance."

"Why should we?" Drear countered. "He's always rubbing it in your face that he was the first alchemist, and that you're still a merchant."

"No, he's not. He's just excited about his job. It's not his fault it's taking me so long to get there."

"No, it's my fault." The statement came from Drear, and Missy was surprised to hear it.

"What are you talking about?"

"Think about how much you two have helped me train in the last year. In fact, you both would have changed jobs by now if it weren't for me." It was true; ever since Naolin and Drear's reunion, Naolin had taken time out from his own training now and then to help his brother. Missy went along most of the time; spending time with friends was always better than training alone.

Once, they went to the Orc Dungeon so Naolin could show the other two how much fun the endless hordes of undead could be. Of course, they stayed far away from the lower level, and even stocked up on green herbs before they went, just in case. While they were in the dungeon, they happened across an ownerless helm, the kind just like the orcs wore, with horns protruding from the top. Naolin and Drear unanimously decided that the helm should go to Missy. It would protect her better in battle than her Puppy Love, which she already tended to remove before fighting anyway, for fear of losing or ruining it.

Missy and Drear had become friends over time, and she never regretted it. The two brothers had also grown closer, and even when Missy and Naolin were training somewhere too dangerous for Drear, he always stayed in their party so they could talk like they were now.

"Come to think of it, Naolin, why are you still a swordsman?" Drear's voice inquired.

"I'm working on it, give me a break." Naolin released Missy's hand abruptly, but he kept walking. She looked over at him, curious about his reaction. Was he angry that he'd been held back so long by Drear and even herself? If he was, he had never shown it before.

"I don't think he meant anything by it," she said softly and off of the com-disc.

"I know he didn't, but he's right. I should be a knight by now; there's no excuse."

She wanted to point out that this trip to Prontera only made that worse, but he didn't seem to be in the mood for that right now. So the rest of the trip was quiet between them, and she passed the time listening to idle guild chatter.


	2. Chapter 2

Missy and Naolin reached the southern wall of Prontera as the sun was beginning to set. Naolin turned to Missy and spoke for the first time in many hours.

"I told them I'd meet them at the pub. Do me a favor; go and meet them for me. Talk to them, feel them out, and let me know what you think."

She was shocked that he'd send her by herself. "And where are you going?"

"I need to have my boots repaired." He pointed down at the once pristine birthday gifts that were now so well-worn, there was indeed a tear in one of them.

"But can't that wait until tomorrow?"

"Sorry, I really need to get them fixed." He was already walking into the crowd, with the poring right on his heels, but he turned around long enough to call, "The man is a hunter and the woman's a knight. That's who you're looking for."

Missy sighed. This was the second time since she'd known him that he'd left her standing alone in this very spot. It was amazing how after three years with him, she was once again left with a feeling of being small and unimportant.

She made her way to the pub in the southwest corner of the city, ignoring for once the people who swarmed the area. Who knew how long these two had been waiting already, and she wasn't in the mood to enjoy the sights and sounds of Prontera right now anyway. Once she reached her destination, she stepped inside and looked around the crowded room. There were many knights and a few hunters, but at only one table were a hunter and a female knight seated together. She walked directly to them.

"Hello, I am Missy Kay," she introduced herself as they stood up. "Naolin sent me to meet with you; I'm sorry he couldn't make it himself." _What am I, his secretary now?_

"Good to meet you, Missy Kay," the man said, holding out his hand. "My name is Jameth, and this is my wife, Alorinna."

Missy shook both of their hands, and they invited her to join them at the table. As they sat down, Missy's eye was drawn to a brilliant diamond ring on Alorinna's left hand.

"So you say you're married?" she queried

"Yes," Jameth confirmed with a smile, "for over a year now."

"Do you have any children?"

The knight's eyes darkened at that question, and Jameth put his hand over hers. Still with a smile, though smaller than before, he answered, "Not yet."

"I'm sorry, my questions are too personal for a guild interview." Missy didn't even know why she'd asked that question about children. She didn't meet a lot of married couples, and she was curious.

"No, it's okay," Alorinna spoke finally. "I would think it would be important for a guild to know that about it's members."

"In fact," Jameth added, "that is part of why we are so interested in Collegato."

"Oh?" Missy inquired.

"We trained with a few of your members the other night, and they had nothing but good things to say about you guys, and the leadership especially. I guess that would include you. It sounds like your guild is practically a family."

Missy blushed lightly. "A lot of our members have made good friends within the guild. We have a lot of really great people." _It's a good thing no one told them about the rude guild leader._

"And of course," the hunter continued, "we are interested in competing in the War of Emperium. Naolin mentioned that Collegato will someday participate?"

She nodded. "That's the plan."

At this point, the conversation lulled a bit. Missy didn't know if there were specific questions she was supposed to ask; Naolin had only told her to "feel them out." She'd never felt more lacking in social skills than she did right now, sitting across from Jameth and Alorinna as they smiled politely at her.

"Do you have questions about the guild?" she asked, desperately hoping that they did.

"There are a few things we'd like to ask you, yes."

They made their inquiries, and Missy answered them as well as she could. Eventually, their discussion moved on to less official matters, and before any of them realized it, two hours had passed. Missy really liked both of them, and as the conversation wound down, she contemplated telling them they were welcome to join. But she'd never wanted to exercise a lot of authority in the guild, despite Naolin's prodding. Inviting them to sign up without talking to him would only advance his side of the matter. So instead, she simply said goodbye.

"Jameth, Alorinna." Standing up, she shook both of their hands again. "It's been a pleasure talking with both of you."

"It was nice to meet you, Missy Kay," Alorinna said with a smile.

"Please, call me Missy."

"And you can call me Rinna."

Now it was Missy's turn to smile. "I'll talk to Naolin. We'll be in touch."

"We look forward to it."

Missy left the pub in a much better mood than when she went in. She tried to contact Naolin on the com-disc's direct link, and got no response, so she headed back to the busy street.

The crowd had thinned out in the evening hours, but there was always activity well into the night in the capital city. She walked between the merchants, paying close attention to their shop signs. She was near the fountain in the center of the city when one sign caught her eye. Fortunately, the cost of the item she was interested in was affordable, so she made the purchase.

Missy hated to haggle. She'd much rather hold out for a reasonable price than to try to convince the merchant to sell it cheaper. It was also why she had never set up her own shop before. Her mother kept telling her she should, and that as a merchant, she could make good zeny selling valuable items she and Naolin had found while training. But she had sat with her mother while she vended in the past, and she found that customers were often rude, pushy, and didn't like to pay the asking price. She never felt that the possibility of more zeny was worth that aggravation.

She fingered the small, smooth object she'd just purchased and wondered what was keeping Naolin so silent. She wandered south now, heading toward a specific building in southeastern Prontera. On the way, she bought something else, this time two pieces of oridecon, metal that was used in the creation and strengthening of weapons.

Reaching the shop, she went into the dark room and didn't bother to turn on a light. The things in there brought up far too many memories, both pleasant and painful, and she didn't want to deal with them now. She sat the recently purchased items on a table just inside the door and wrote a note for the person who would find them in the morning. As she headed back outside, she lingered in the doorway. The memories had come anyway, whether she saw the forge or not, even though it wasn't quite the same…

"Missy." She jumped at Naolin's voice in her ear.

"So, you're alive after all," she greeted him sarcastically.

"Something like that." He chuckled.

Missy didn't find it very funny.

"I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier. I was in the middle of something."

"Right – getting your…boots fixed."

Naolin ignored her obviously sarcastic remark. "Where are you now?"

"I just left the guild's shop."

"At this hour? Was the forge going?"

"Nope, no one was there."

"Then what were you doing there?"

This time, it was her turn to ignore him. "What are you thinking for the rest of tonight? It's pretty late, but do you want to go back to Morroc still?"

"Nah, let's just stay here tonight. I'm already halfway to the inn."

Missy headed north again, and was back at the fountain within minutes. Before she turned right to head to the inn, something made her pause. A man was standing in front of the structure, staring directly at her. A few lamps in the area did light up the night, and she recognized the man, but something was just a little off here. There was no mistaking the way he brushed the stray lock of brown hair out of his eye, and the poring at his feet also gave him away. It was Naolin, but he was wearing knight's clothes.

"Naolin! You made it!" Forgetting all about being upset, she rushed over to him and threw her arms around him. For a moment, she was embarrassed at her action, but soon felt his arms around her back, returning the embrace. He was stronger than she'd expected.

They stayed like that a few moments, during which Missy could barely form any coherent thoughts. She could only think about how perfect the moment was.

Eventually, he pulled back, keeping his hands on her arms, and held her gaze with his for a few seconds. The soft, caring look on his face made Missy's heart beat even faster than it already was. She'd seen it before, but not often. And it meant everything to her when she did.

Suddenly feeling shy, Missy dropped her eyes and started to apologize for her brashness. Naolin stopped her words with a sudden kiss, pressing his lips against hers for a moment that seemed eternal, yet was over far too quickly. He then pulled her close to him again and she rested her head on his chest.

"Missy," he whispered as he brought one hand up and stroked her shoulder-length white hair. "I love you."

She had been wrong before. _Now _the moment was perfect. She closed her eyes and simply enjoyed Naolin's presence, realizing how much she had wanted to hear those words from him. When he released her, she looked up at his smiling face, and she'd never been happier.

"It's late," he said softly, taking her hand in his.

She nodded, and they headed for the inn. They reluctantly said good night and headed into their rooms. Missy thought she'd never be able to sleep, but her body had other plans.

* * *

Naolin woke up the next morning feeling…different. He was a knight now, and things only got better from there.

He really had felt horrible lying to Missy, especially since it was obvious that it upset her. But the surprise in the end had been well worth it. To hold her in his arms without one of them being half-dead for once was nice. It was perfect.

He got dressed in his new clothes and attached his com-disc. The guild link was alive with chatter. Apparently something big had happened.

"What's going on?" he cut into the din.

His answer was seemingly every member in the guild greeting him excitedly at once. One voice managed to push the others down; it was Drear.

"Hey, we heard the news."

"Which news?" Naolin asked curiously.

"That you're a knight now! It's great!"

"Missy told us," explained a crusader named Miguel.

"Was there other news?" Drear questioned.

"Not exactly."

"Anyways, congratulations. Guess I should apologize for that crack I made yesterday."

"Heh, don't worry about that."

A few more members congratulated him, and one of them mentioned that this brought them all closer to the War of Emperium. That got them all talking excitedly again, and Naolin turned off the guild link as he finally left his room. He headed toward the pub, with Beanbag close on his heels; when he and Missy stayed in town somewhere, they usually met for breakfast in the mornings.

He spotted the Puppy Love from a distance, but as he grew closer, he slowed. She was talking to someone, apparently on her own com-disc. He walked slowly, and by the time he reached her, she was done.

"Good morning," he called as he approached.

Her face lit up when she saw him, not a reaction he was altogether used to receiving. But as he led her into the pub, he was able to put his finger on the foreign feeling he'd woken up with. He was content.

Any idiot could be happy. Happiness was more of an "in-the-moment" emotion. To genuinely feel that there was nothing you would change about where your life was headed, to be _content_, that was special.

After breakfast, Missy asked about continuing their training, wondering whether or not he planned to head back to Morroc right away. He wasn't sure why, but she didn't seem to want to. Truthfully, he didn't either.

"I don't know, I kinda just feel like sticking close to Prontera for now. But I have to admit, I'm itching to train a little. What do you think about taking over the culverts?"

"Sounds like fun," she said excitedly. "It also sounds like the kind of trip that Drear would benefit from."

His response was to turn his com-disc to the party setting. "Drear! Get your butt to Prontera. We've got some bugs to squash."


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, around noon, Naolin, Missy, and Drear emerged from the darkness of the Culverts west of Prontera in high spirits. They'd spent a lot of time down there recently, and had decided to have lunch above ground today.

Because of her merchant credentials, Missy could get a better price from the tool dealer on items anyone else might consider junk. So today, just like every other day, Naolin and Drear handed her everything they'd collected inside, knowing she'd split the profits evenly. The Culverts tended to produce an unusually large amount of junk, and as they piled it all into her cart, it spilled over.

"Drear, do you mind helping me to the tool dealer with all of these worm peelings?"

Both guys seemed surprised at who she'd asked, but Drear responded, "Sure, no problem."

"We'll be right back," she said to Naolin.

The swordsman scooped up the excess items and followed Missy to the shop, while Naolin opened a bottle of apple juice to give to Beanbag.

"Is something wrong?" Drear questioned once they were out of earshot of his brother.

"No, no," Missy assured him. "I just need your help with something."

"Something besides worm peelings, I take it."

"Of course." She began to explain as she piled her merchandise onto the tool dealer's table. "Remember how I told you that I was gathering materials to have a lance forged, as a gift for Naolin when he became a knight?"

"Yeah," Drear nodded slowly. "So…ohh!" His face lit up as he finally caught on. Then his expression changed to one of worry. "Did you get everything in time then? I'll bet we could bum whatever's missing from people in the guild."

Missy stopped him before he could get too carried away. "Don't worry. I got the rest of the pieces last night."

"Good! So you need my help with…?"

"I want you to keep him busy while I go to the guild's forge to see if it's ready."

"Got it."

Missy's business with the tool dealer complete now, they stepped away to let someone else deal with him. She gave Drear his and Naolin's shares of the zeny, and grabbed her cart handle.

"Missy," Drear stopped her before she could leave. "Something _is_ going on though, right?"

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know, you tell me."

Missy almost laughed at that, but said nothing.

"You guys are my family, and I love you both. I can see it; I don't know what, but something has changed. Don't you think I deserve to know?"

"Ask your brother." She walked away chuckling. That should be an interesting conversation, and she really hated to have to miss it.

When she walked into Collegato's shop this time, the forge was in full operation. Missy found the guild's official blacksmith standing over his anvil, hammer in one hand, nearly-finished dagger blade in the other. She stood nearby and waited patiently for him to finish the heat he was working on. When he finally straightened back up to his full height of a half a foot taller than Missy, he turned to put the blade back into the fire and stopped when he saw her.

"Ah, hello!" he greeted her, setting the metal off to the side and stepping around the anvil.

"Hi, Jonathan, how are things today?"

"Good. Hectic, but good."

Jonathan, of course, was the one Missy had chosen as her dad's replacement. Even though he had still been a merchant when Missy met him, she knew there would never be a better person for the job.

The blacksmiths who she'd already interviewed were all very surprised to hear of her decision, but none were quite as shocked as Jonathan himself. He knew nothing of this position that she was needing to fill, but grew more and more excited as she explained it to him. Missy knew that there would never be a blacksmith out there who would appreciate having full access to Bramen's knowledge and experience as much as Jonathan.

The day he became a blacksmith, he requested to join Collegato. Missy was surprised and pleased. It had been her own choice to move Bramen's shop, which was now Jonathan's shop, to Prontera. Her mother had been practically living there anyway, needing the extra income that the streets of the capital city could provide. And thus, this small building, housing almost everything her father had left behind, was home to Collegato's forge, run by its official blacksmith.

Since handing her father's book to Jonathan, Missy had never regretted it once. She had even helped him design himself a touch mark that was similar to Bramen's, though of course, unique. He had been very grateful for the job, and ever respectful of the man he was succeeding. The fame that preceded him hadn't really carried over yet, but for now, his own guild members were keeping him busy.

Before breakfast this morning, Missy had talked to Jonathan on her com-disc, and asked him if he'd found the cursed ruby and oridecon she'd left the night before. His answer had been an affirmative.

"I believe you should have everything you need for a lance with an ice element then," she'd said.

"I do indeed," he had replied. "When are you coming by to pick it up?"

"When will you have it done? I don't want to rush you."

"It is finished and waiting."

"So soon? That's--how's that possible?"

"You're the one who chose me, remember?" came the smug reply. "So, you can come by any time you wish."

She'd considered going then to pick it up, but saw Naolin coming through the crowd to meet her for breakfast.

"I'll be by later, hopefully in the afternoon," she'd informed him, then said goodbye quickly.

Now, Jonathan handed her the lance, and she examined it closely. The ice-cold spear head had been strengthened with star crumb, and the handle was exquisitely designed. The man did amazing work.

"Will that work for you?" he asked.

"It's perfect." She looked up at his grinning face. "There's no way you made this just this morning."

The blacksmith held up his hands defensively. "I never said that, did I? Hey, you told me about this lance a month ago, you know. You didn't say I had to wait for you to collect all of the materials to make it."

She laughed. "I'm impressed. And thank you, so much."

Jonathan bowed low. "Anything."

Missy jumped when the door behind her suddenly slammed open. A lanky, young man stood in the doorway, wearing a leather jacket, despite the warm summer day. His anacondaq skin belt and boots gave him a distinctly Morrocan appearance, accentuated by his long, wild white hair. Curiously, his face was covered in black soot, except for the conspicuous absence of dirt around his eyes. The goggles that were pushed up onto his head clearly answered for the void.

"Dorian," Missy greeted the alchemist.

"Well, hey there, Missy!" he said excitedly.

"You alright there?"

"Sure…why?" He glanced from her to Jonathan, who pointed at his own face in explanation. "Ohh!" Dorian chuckled. "Yeah. Potion mishap. Nothin' big. I'll nail it 'fore long."

Missy nodded absently. She couldn't help but hope that alchemy wasn't as hit-or-miss as he made it seem.

"You know," Jonathan said, pointing at Dorian with his hammer, "you're lucky I wasn't forging when you came running in here like that. You don't want to startle a man with hot metal in his hand, trust me."

Dorian's eyes grew wide, and he nodded in understanding. Missy did her best to hold back her laughter. At twenty-four, Jonathan was the oldest member of Collegato so far. There were times he came off as the crotchety old man, chastising the kids who got out of line. Most of the time, he was doing so in jest, and it was even funnier when the "kid" he was talking to thought he was serious.

Dorian's laid back personality and clumsy nature tended to make him one of the more common subjects of Jonathan's jokes. The alchemist was seventeen, a year younger than Missy even. She often wondered what he had done to finish his merchant training so quickly, but it didn't bother her, as much as Naolin thought it should anyway.

"You here for your axe, Dorian?" Jonathan guessed.

"You betcha."

As Jonathan went to retrieve the weapon, Missy curiously asked, "Axes, huh? Is that your own preference, or is there some sort of alchemist skill for them?"

He held up his index finger, indicating that she should wait as he stepped back out into the sunlight. He dug into a metal cart that he'd left parked directly outside, and stepped back inside with a thin book in his hands.

With the recent creation of several new classes – not just alchemist, but monk, crusader, dancer, and bard as well – the new guilds had opted not to widely release all the information available regarding skills, training courses, and even the test one had to pass to join the respective guild. Of course, as more people joined these guilds and learned the information for themselves, it became public eventually, but the spread of knowledge was slow.

"I just got this manual a week or so ago," Dorian said as he flipped it open to one of the first pages. By now, Jonathan had returned with a hefty two-handed axe slung over his shoulder. "Look here."

Dorian pointed to a section detailing a training course the alchemist guild offered, which was one to strengthen the alchemist's skill with an axe.

"That's it?" Missy wondered. "There are no other weapon training courses? No maces, or…swords?"

"Nope, it's just axes." Looking at Jonathan, he added, "Speaking of which…"

The blacksmith handed him the axe; he took it and left.

Jonathan came over and stood in front of Missy, who hadn't moved.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess." She looked down at her side where her fire tsurugi hung. "I kinda thought that since I wasn't going to be a blacksmith, I'd be able to keep using the swords my father made for me."

Jonathan said nothing. He knew better than almost anyone how much Bramen had meant to her, and how much she clung to what she did have left of him.

"And why axes anyway?" she complained. "Every other guild that offers weapon training at least gives a choice between the two." Missy knew she probably sounded whiney, but at the moment, she didn't care. Jonathan had become almost like an older brother to her, and there were few she felt more comfortable with.

"Well listen, Missy," he said now. "You know I will make you a whole new set of elemental axes if you need them. And you'll still have your swords. You don't have to sell them just because you don't need them. Pass them on to your own kids someday. Speaking of which, don't you have a gift to deliver?" He winked at her, and she chuckled.

"Yeah. Thanks again, Jonathan," she said as she left the shop and headed toward the western wall of Prontera.

_Axes. Why axes?!_

By the time she was outside of the city and back to where Naolin and Drear were, she'd put the lance in her cart and covered it up as best as she could. Naolin looked a little flushed as she approached, and she wondered if it had anything to do with the topic of conversation she'd suggested to Drear before she left.

"Where did you disappear to?" the knight asked when she got to them. "And is something wrong?"

"Axes!" she fumed, throwing one palm up and dropping it against her leg in exasperation.

"Say what?" Drear questioned.

"Nothing," she sighed. "I'll tell you about it later." She reached back to pick up the lance just as Beanbag hopped into the cart, now that it had finally returned to him. Drear started walking back towards town with a small wave, leaving them alone.


	4. Chapter 4

She pulled Naolin away from the Culverts entrance, then handed him the weapon.

"What's this?" he asked with wide eyes, admiring the lance.

"Your first knight weapon. Did I say congratulations yet?"

Naolin chuckled. "I don't think so, but this more than makes up for it. Thank you."

She felt her face warming as he pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her. She enjoyed the embrace for a moment, the pulled back a little, looking into his green eyes, a few inches higher than her own. A familiar lock of brown hair obscured his vision a little, and this time, she reached up and brushed it out of his eye for him, running her hand through his hair in the process. He looked a little startled at her touch, which made her giggle nervously.

"Sorry," she said quietly, apologizing not for the action, but for throwing him off guard.

"Don't be," he smiled. Missy's heart skipped a beat at that smile, at what she now knew it meant.

She gave him a smile of her own. "I love you, Naolin."

The arm that was still around her back tightened as she said those words, and he suddenly kissed her. A longer kiss this time, sweet and pure. Her head was spinning, and she barely even realized he'd broken the kiss until she heard him say, "I love you, too." And then she was looking into his eyes again, thinking about how she could stay in his arms forever.

She was broken from her reverie by voices nearby. Missy's attention was distracted for a moment by a group of young adventurers chatting as they stepped from the darkness of the Culverts into the sunlight. When she looked back at Naolin, he was still staring at her.

"Have you had lunch yet?" he inquired, finally stepping away from her. She shook her head. He picked up his new lance and held his hand out to her. "I know just the place."

* * *

They took the long way around Prontera to avoid the crowd, then headed southeast to Izlude. They ate lunch in the grass, between the southern wall of town and the cliff, facing the ocean. After eating, they sat on Naolin's bench and talked.

"Can we watch the sunset?" Missy asked him after a while.

"That's not for a few hours."

"I know," she smiled that sweet smile of hers.

He slipped his arm around her. "We'll stay here all night if you want."

"You know, in all the excitement lately, I completely forgot to tell you about Jameth and Alorinna," she brought up a new subject. "I'd expect they're going to want to hear from us soon."

"Oh right, the whole reason we came back to Prontera," he chuckled.

"Right," she glanced sideways at him.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Have I mentioned how sorry I am for lying to you?"

"I know. And I know why you did it. Besides…I suppose the result was worth it."

_To know now that you're mine now and that you love me as I love you?_

"That's an understatement," he replied. "Now, about these new recruits. What's your take on them?"

"Short answer? Pick them up before someone else does. They're wonderful people."

"Okay then."

She laughed at that. "Don't you want to know why they're so great?"

"I'll find out when they join. All I need to know is that you like them."

Now she turned fully to look at him. "Naolin, that's crazy."

"Why?"

"Well…I don't know. It's just--I mean, you're the leader, not me."

He just smiled at her. She'd get it someday. He really did want her to have an equal authoritative voice in Collegato, especially now. He would never have become a guild leader himself if it weren't for her. And he wasn't clueless to the fact that most of the members in Collegato would never have joined or stayed around if her kind, warm personality wasn't there to balance him out.

She looked at him for a few more moments, and when she saw that he wasn't going to say anything else on the matter, she sighed and stared back out at the ocean. Then a mischievous grin crossed her face.

"So, what did you tell Drear?"

"Drear?"

"Yeah, earlier today, when he asked what was going on between us."

"How did you know about that?" he asked incredulously.

He had gone beet red when his brother brought up the subject. He barely knew how to answer him, because it was still a difficult situation to explain. It didn't seem adequate to call Missy his girlfriend; she was so much more to him than that. She always had been, but the only difference now was that there was nothing unspoken between them anymore.

She didn't answer him, but her grin widened.

"Did you send him after me? And why would you do--"

He was silenced by a sudden serious look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

She held up her index finger for him to wait, and he did so curiously.

"Yes?" she said. It had to be her com-disc. They'd turned off the guild and party links so they could be alone, but the direct links were always able to be activated by someone else. _Great timing_.

"Julius! Hi, how have you been?" she said cheerfully, then became serious again. "Izlude. Okay, sure. Where? Okay, we'll be there soon."

She turned back to Naolin who had been waiting patiently.

"It was Julius." He refrained from reminding her that he'd heard that part already. "He needs to talk to me – us, I guess. It sounded pretty important. I told him we'd meet him in Prontera."

"That is really odd."

"You don't have to tell me. He didn't sound too happy either."

"So much for watching the sunset," he chuckled, stopping as soon as he saw the gloomy look on her face.

"Yeah," she sighed as she stood up.

He quickly did the same and grabbed her arm, guiding her to face him. He reached up with one hand and gently touched her cheek.

"There will be many more sunsets," he promised her softly, giving her a quick kiss.

When they arrived at the place Julius had asked them to meet him, outside of the Library of Prontera, he was there waiting.

He greeted them both with a grim expression, and got right to the point of his visit.

"I have been assigned as part of a detail that has been sent after a rogue wizard. The wizard and sage guilds have sent their best to bring him in; they say he is a great threat to the whole country. His name is Alexander, and he is rumored to be acquainted with a priestess who holds a rather high position with the church."

Julius paused, looking for a reaction from Missy, which he didn't receive. Of course, she had to know exactly who he was talking about; Naolin certainly did.

"I know you're friends with Lena Isabelle. I was hoping you could tell me what her relationship is with this wizard."

Missy sighed. "What has she done wrong exactly?"

"Nothing that I know of. They're not even sure of her involvement in this. Her name was only mentioned as a possible way to find him. But oddly enough, no one can find her either."

"I can't tell you much. I haven't heard from her in a while myself."

That was mostly true. There was one letter though…

"Do you have a way to contact her?" Julius inquired.

"Look, I don't know what's going on, or what Alexander has done that has made him a threat. I'm sorry I couldn't help you out."

Julius's face softened a little. "Missy, I'm not here in an official capacity. If you think I've given your name to my superiors, don't worry. I wouldn't do that. I thought perhaps you would want to be able to warn you friend to watch herself."

"Is she in danger?" Naolin wondered.

"Well, not exactly. But it doesn't help that she's already in some trouble with the church. I'm sure it's unrelated, but--"

"Wait, what do you mean she's already in trouble with the church?" Naolin broke in. He glanced over at Missy, wondering why she was so silent.

"You don't know already? Haven't you read the latest issue of Prontera's newspaper?"

"Prontera has a newspaper?!"

Julius stared at him. "You're kidding me." After seeing Naolin's confused face, he said, "Apparently not. Well, take a look at this."

He handed him folded up newspaper, and Naolin opened it to read. Missy came over next to him to look at it with him. Sure enough, the capital city appeared to have a regularly distributed newspaper. Since when, he didn't know. The title at the top read "The Prontera Post." Julius pointed to an article halfway down the third page.

_First Priestess of the Uniform States of Rune-Midgard to be stripped of title_

The article didn't go into much detail, but it essentially said that her superiors were very concerned about the constant absences Lena had been taking since accepting her role. Then, Lena had all but disappeared, not having any contact with the church for over a year. It went on to state that if they didn't have sufficient evidence to indicate that she was alive, they'd have presumed her dead by now. The article was apparently a means to inform the priestess that if she didn't return soon with a very good explanation, she would be relieved from her position.

"Oh," Missy moaned when she finished the article. "Poor Lena. I can almost guarantee she'll never even see this article."

"It's not just an article," Julius informed her. "They've posted notices in every city in the country."

"And what makes you think she's anywhere near a city?" Missy asked in a small voice.

She was visibly upset. Naolin handed the newspaper back to Julius and went over to her, putting his arm around her. He caught an odd look from Julius, what looked like a mixture of confusion and disappointment.

"Missy, you clearly have some idea of what is going on here," the sage said quietly. "Is there anything you can tell me that might help?"

She looked at him sharply. "You mean you don't know what's going on? Why they're sending you after Alexander?"

Julius sighed and shook his head. "They didn't give us details, and it's not our job to ask questions. The wizard is a threat, we are to bring him in."

"Well, I don't exactly know anything either. I suppose Lena didn't tell me on purpose, for this very reason. Truthfully though, the last time I did talk to her, she didn't sound like she was clear on the situation either." She paused for a moment, stepping away from Naolin and toward Julius. "What will happen to her?"

"If she stays out of our way, nothing. But look, Missy, there's only so much I can do, okay? If she helps him when we find him, she will have to be brought in too. She could end up in a lot of trouble. I know enough to know that the wizard guild means business on this one."

Missy was quiet for a moment, and Julius left her to her thoughts. Naolin was thinking about that letter, and what had come with it.

Months ago, Lena had written that she had disabled her own com-disc, because the priest guild had been trying to contact her quite a bit. She mentioned that things were getting out of control. She feared she was in over her head, but she had to see it through now, whatever "it" was. She also informed Missy that this letter would be her last form of contact with her friend, as she did not want to put the merchant under any suspicion. Included in the letter was a butterfly wing. The note with it said, "Just in case." Presumably, it was no normal butterfly wing. Missy had carried the wing ever since, and Naolin knew she would have no choice but to use it now.


	5. Chapter 5

"Missy," he said gently. She looked back at him. "The wing."

"I know."

"What?" Julius questioned.

"All you need to know is that there is a small chance I can contact her, and that I will do so as soon as possible. Thank you for telling me about all of this."

"Missy," Julius said, stepping closer to her. "We have been through a lot together, and you are one of my best friends. Trust me when I say that I will do anything I can to help your friend."

She said something that Naolin couldn't hear.

"What?" the sage asked.

Louder this time, Missy made her request. "Don't go. Don't be a part of this. It's madness; Alexander cannot be that dangerous. He saved my life, for goodness sake."

"That is the one thing I cannot do. It was not exactly a volunteer mission; I was chosen for this job, and I have to go."

"Besides, Missy," Naolin added, "if he doesn't go, there will be no one to watch out for Lena."

"Hopefully no one will have to," she stated plainly.

"I have to go now. Do what you can." Julius glanced at Naolin. "Keep her safe."

Naolin nodded.

When Julius was gone, he turned to Missy. "I can't go with you, can I?"

"I don't see how you could," she replied.

"Do you know where you'll be going?"

"There was no hint of a location. I have no idea." She walked over and hugged him. "Naolin, I'll be okay. Wherever it is, I'm sure it's perfectly safe."

"I know," he sighed. "Just hurry back."

They said goodbye with a kiss and a promise to be together soon.

* * *

The first thing Missy noticed about the foreign setting was how bright it was. The second was how cold it was. Perhaps not cold, exactly, but much cooler than the warm, summer climate she'd just left. Looking around at the numerous buildings and paved streets, she came to the conclusion that she was definitely in a town, but it was one she'd never been to before. That meant it wasn't in Rune-Midgard.

From where she stood, the town looked empty. She looked around, hoping to find an indication as to what she was to do here. The butterfly wing had to have taken her not only to this town, but to this specific spot, for a reason. There weren't even any Kafra employees nearby. The wing had to have been altered by Alexander somehow. Was there any limit to what that wizard could do?

There was a building nearby, so Missy chose to go there first, leaving her cart outside. Inside, she found what appeared to be a library. The shelves that reached to the ceiling high above and were stocked full of books were a pretty good indicator.

_Okay, now what?_ Missy questioned silently. To her left, she noticed a large wooden counter with a man behind it.

"Welcome to the Library of Juno!" he greeted her.

_Juno. The sage city?_

"Is there something I can help you find, miss?"

She must've looked as lost as she felt. It was worth a try.

"Actually, I think I might have a book on hold here." She told him her name, and he looked through some records. A number of page turns later, she began to think she'd have to come up with another idea, then the clerk's face lit up.

"Ah yes, here it is. I apologize for the wait; it appears to have been on hold for quite a while."

"I don't get to Juno very often," she replied.

He knelt down behind the counter and came back with a book, which he handed to her. She thanked him and headed further into the building. Past a very tall statue of a woman reading some sort of scroll was a hall with a number of doors. Missy chose one at random. Inside, she learned how huge the library was, probably even bigger than Prontera's. Every one of those rooms held a myriad of books, and there were at least five doors.

Once she was deep in the stacks, she finally looked at the book that she could only assume had been left for her by Lena. It was titled _The History of Alchemy_, which Missy couldn't help but smile at. She opened it and flipped through the pages, not entirely surprised to find a thin slip of paper carefully tucked between two.

_My friend,_

_I am so sorry you are involved in this. I cannot imagine that anything else would have brought you to use my butterfly wing. Believe me when I tell you that my friend is not the threat they say he is. You know I would not still be helping him if he was. I pray the day will come where he will no longer be hunted, and I can return to my life. Until that day comes, stay safe, and remain as far away from this situation as you can._

_Your friend,  
Jayde_

The signature was certainly peculiar. If Lena had wanted to leave her name off of the letter, she could have simply avoided signing it. But why use Missy's mother's name?

The letter really didn't say much, though she hadn't come here for information anyway. She needed to warn Lena of everything she had just found out. So now it was her turn to leave a note. She always carried a pen and paper in her cart for letter writing, but she'd left her cart outside. She set the book on a table before she left.

Missy found her cart exactly where she'd left it, down the steps to the right of the library entrance, and was hit with a curious thought. Had Beanbag been in it when she came here? She couldn't remember for sure, but she thought he might have been. Either way, he wasn't there now. She dismissed the thought, and walked over to rummage through it.

She found what she was after easily enough, but as she stood back up, she suddenly froze. Five yards in front of her, across a narrow cobbled street, was a figure stretched out on a bench. It appeared to be a mage, by the look of the robes. A messy crop of violet hair was barely visible under the poring that was sitting on the figure's face.

* * *

Soon after Missy left, Naolin met with the hunter and knight, inviting them to sign Collegato's guild book. They were eager to do so.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person," Jameth said, shaking Naolin's hand.

"I'm sorry I didn't come myself the other day," Naolin said.

"Not to worry. We enjoyed talking with Missy," the hunter assured him.

"She made us feel right at home," Alorinna added. "Even as mere potential members."

"She's good at that," Naolin smiled affectionately.

"You know," Jameth said, changing the subject. "I was pretty sure you said you were a swordsman when we first spoke a few days ago."

"I was," Naolin chuckled. "And that same evening I took the knight test."

"Congratulations then!"

"Welcome to the ranks," Alorinna added.

Naolin then turned his com-disc to the guild setting. There was very little chatter for once, so it was no trouble for him to command attention from his members.

"We have two new members today," he informed them. "Their names are Jameth and Alorinna. Everyone make sure to introduce yourselves over the next couple of days."

A few said hello. The first to introduce himself was the guild's only crusader thus far.

"My name is Miguel de Roxas," he explained. "You can call me 'Sir Miguel.'"

"Oh, uh…nice to meet you," Jameth replied, clearly caught off guard by that introduction.

"He's only kidding," a rogue named Bakten assured the new recruits.

"No, he's not," Naolin countered. "That is, he really would love for you to call him 'Sir Miguel,' but none of us do, so don't worry about it."

Miguel gave a disappointed grunt as Jameth and Alorinna both laughed.

The hunter and knight soon went on their way, leaving Naolin alone and completely unsure of what to do next.

With Missy having just left on that butterfly wing, the knight tried to not worry about the fact that neither of them knew where it would send her. Though what bothered him far more was that he couldn't go along with her. He figured waiting around staring at the sidewalk wasn't going to do anyone any good. Missy said she wouldn't be gone for very long at least; he just needed to figure out what to do in the meantime.

Luckily, he knew one person he could count on. He turned the party link on his com-disc back on.

"Drear, what are you up to? I'm thinking I could go for a few more rounds in the Culvert."

The com-disc was silent for a moment before the line opened back up. "Maybe we should put that on hold. Something more interesting might be going on."

"What could possibly be more interesting than smashing evil critters with your brother?"

Drear hesitated again before responding, "I'm not really sure yet; there is something going on at the knight guild. Big crowd outside, looks like there are a few high ranking Prontera officials too."

Naolin had heard enough; his curiosity was definitely peaked by whatever could be going on over there. It didn't take him long to meet up with his brother and see the crowd for himself.

Naolin was slightly amused by it all. "Everyone is certainly in a huff about something. I bet something bad happened."

Drear looked quite surprised by his brother's tone of voice. "Why do you sound so happy about it?"

"It means now the day won't be as boring as I thought it would while I wait for Missy to get back." Seeing the look of question on his brother's face, he quickly added, "I'll tell you about that in a minute."

The Prontera officials outside the knight guild had departed while Naolin was talking, and now he wanted to go over and find out exactly what was going on. The majority of the crowd had either moved inside or left with the officials.

One of the older knights still standing outside the knight guild saw Naolin coming. He waited for Naolin to get closer and demanded, "State your name, Knight."

Naolin saluted the knight, "Naolin Dark, sir!"

The man peered at Naolin. "I'll assume you came here to find out what all the fuss and commotion was about?"

Naolin only nodded.

The knight let out a long sigh, not bothering to hide his great disfavor with the situation. "Some pansy official let his pansy son off his leash. The moron seems to have gotten lost while in the Payon caves. His politician father got all weepy about it, and our guild had to send a search party to go and investigate."

The knight looked to the side and spit on the road before continuing, "And now our search party hasn't checked back in. If _that_ wasn't bad enough, the freaking politician is throwing a hissy-fit over it and now we need to send _another_ team down there!"

Naolin was definitely annoyed to hear the situation. Some loser official throwing his weight around to get others to do his dirty work while he sits around and does nothing. However, as maddening as it was, Naolin saw his chance.

"Sir, I volunteer to be a part of the rescue team."

"Son, you must either be crazy or stupid to go on a pointless mission for a jackass politician!" the knight nearly yelled out.

Naolin looked the elder knight in the eye with his usual air of confidence. "I figure if someone has to do it, better to send someone crazy enough to volunteer than someone stupid enough to walk away."

The older knight could only laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: To all who are still interested, yes, the story is getting back on track. There will probably be another 10 chapters, which I will start posting within two weeks, and I promise, I will not stop posting until the story is over. This chapter has been edited, mainly in the last few paragraphs, getting it ready for what's to come. I'd just like to say thank you all for your patience, and that I hope what's coming is worth the wait._

* * *

Naolin hurried inside to find a small crowd of armor-clad men and women. Someone was already in the front addressing them as he slipped in the back. 

"So basically, the guys who were already sent to rescue the 'princess' have gotten themselves lost too," the man was saying. "And now, we have to go save their butts."

Before he even saw who was talking, Naolin knew who the voice belonged to. He might not have recognized it automatically if it hadn't been for the remarkably condescending tone it carried.

"Obviously, I'll be in charge here, and I've got a few rules. Well, basically, just one. If you're too weak to handle it, don't even bother coming along. That would specifically include _some_ of you ladies."

Naolin heard a few protests and complaints from the women.

"This is not a learning experience, or a chance for some of you newer, still undeveloped knights to get a taste of a real battle. I'm not going to hold your hand out there. So just stay home."

It was absolutely amazing to Naolin how after almost three years, this knight was exactly like he remembered him. There seemed to be no limit to his arrogance. He was still as rude as ever. Why would the knight guild put that _punk_ in charge? He was sure to get them all killed.

Naolin contemplated just turning around and leaving now. Most likely, the knight would take one look at him and refuse to let him come anyway. But he decided he had to at least try. If he wanted to prove himself to the knight guild, he couldn't leave now. From what he was already feeling though, it would take all the resolve he had to keep him from knocking that guy to the ground again.

* * *

Missy was so embarrassed, she could hardly breath. She stood unmoving for a few seconds, then stepped toward the bench. 

"Beanbag!" she hissed, having no idea if porings could even understand human speech, or if Beanbag would actually recognize its name.

_Why isn't this mage pushing it off? Or jumping up and freaking out?_ Either way, neither the mage nor the poring moved when she called.

"Beanbag!" she tried again, clapping her hands this time, hoping to get its attention. It worked, sort of. The mage jumped at her clapping, sitting straight up. Into his lap fell…a poring _hat_?

"What?" she wondered aloud.

"What?" the mage echoed. "What's going on?" He removed a pair of small, round lenses attached by a thin frame from his face and rubbed his bleary eyes.

Missy found the situation hilarious, but bit her tongue to keep from laughing.

The mage seemed to suddenly realize that someone was standing there, and jumped to his feet, putting his mini glasses back on. He glanced at Missy, looking away quickly.

"I'm really sorry I startled you," Missy offered.

"Yes, about that," he spoke in a very proper, sophisticated tone. "Did you need something?"

"Well, not exactly. You see, I thought that hat was a real poring. I was just trying to get it to move off of your face."

He blushed. "Oh, my hat. Sorry…or, uh, thank you. Um…"

He didn't really sound very proper anymore. Missy wondered how she had managed to embarrass him, since it was definitely how he was acting.

"My name is Missy Kay," she tried to remedy things a bit.

"I am Nell Mackenzie," he replied, his voice returning to its decorous tone, though he still didn't look her in the eye.

"Well, it was nice to meet you." She waited a few more seconds to see if he would make eye-contact or make an attempt to shake her hand. Nothing. "I have to go now; sorry again for disturbing you."

Nell merely nodded at the ground, and Missy turned to leave. She'd only taken a few steps when she heard a startled yelp behind her. Spinning around, she saw that Nell had sat back down on the bench, and again had the poring hat in his lap. Or…wasn't that the poring hat next to him?

"Beanbag!" she cried. "Get off of him!"

Nell, however, chuckled quietly, and patted the poring on the head.

"I am so sorry. He just does this sometimes. It's really very embarrassing."

"He's okay, really," the mage assured her. "He's your pet, right?"

"Uh…yeah." She didn't feel like taking the time to explain the complicated relationship she had with this poring, who by now had definitely shown that he preferred Naolin.

"I like pets…" Nell said warmly.

"I still need to go into the library for a little bit. Just shove him off if he gets annoying."

The mage barely nodded at her, so she went on inside.

* * *

As the knight continued to belittle at least half of the people in the room, a man came into the room behind him. 

"Evan!" he thundered. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but you'd better get your butt back in line with the rest."

Evan obeyed quickly, though the haughty smirk never left his face.

"I have told you countless times – you will _never_ lead a mission if you can't learn proper respect."

There were a few snickers, but the knight quickly stepped to the front of the room, silencing everyone.

"I am Rainer; some of you have already met me. The rest of you will before long, whether today, or on a later mission. Forget what you just heard; you'll get details later, for those of you who will be going. However, this is not a volunteer mission. I'm going to hand-select a group that I feel will be strong enough for what lies ahead."

He swiftly walked through the crowd, looking from face to face, asking questions of a few. In the end, he'd chosen five knights, and Naolin was not included in that number. He was surprised to hear the name of his newest guild member announced as part of the group though; he'd had no idea she was here too.

"Gather what you need quickly. I truly cannot tell you what you might need, so be prepared. Don't expect there to be much in the way of healers either. Meet at the western Kafra station in ten minutes."

The room cleared out fast. Those who were chosen left to prepare as Rainer had suggested, and those who weren't just left.

Naolin stepped outside, and regrettably ran into Evan. The green-haired knight took one look at Naolin, and chuckled.

"Well, well, well, look who's a knight now," Evan said mockingly.

Naolin merely nodded, having no desire to get into something with him right now.

"I don't remember hearing your name called," Evan observed casually.

"It wasn't."

"That's a shame. Guess what I said about undeveloped knights not being invited was right after all."

Naolin shrugged, hoping he didn't look as infuriated as he felt. The more this guy thought he was getting to him, the more he'd go on.

But he wouldn't let it go.

"I guess you're only half a man without your _girl_ around."

The statement overall was quite pathetic. A lame attempt at an insult, Naolin felt. However, the way he spoke the word "girl," with such condescension and scorn, Naolin couldn't control the anger he'd already been suppressing. He moved forward with his fist clenched, but didn't manage to step fully into the swing before he was interrupted.

"Evan!" Rainer shouted in their direction, staying Naolin's attack.

Evan looked in the direction of the older knight without responding.

"This is not the time to be messing around. Let's go, get your gear." Naolin was beginning to like that man.

Glancing at Naolin, Rainer questioned, "Who's your friend?"

"Him?" Evan scoffed.

While the term "friend" produced the same reaction in Naolin, he managed to keep his face calm as Rainer walked over toward them. The older man peered closely at his face.

"What's your name?"

"Naolin Dark, sir."

Rainer nodded slowly, as if recalling something.

"You friends with Evan here?"

"Not a chance."

His response produced a wide grin from Rainer, but only for a moment. He turned then to walk away, and the silence he left hung heavily in the air.

Before he got too far, he turned back just long enough to say, "Join us at the western gate, Naolin. Your experiences might suit you well for this adventure."

Naolin wasn't sure what he meant by that, but he wasn't going to question the invite. Leaving Evan to stew, he rushed to the Kafra employee to withdraw his assortment of weapons, and any healing potions he could find. Drear met him there to help him prepare.

With some time to spare before everyone else was expected to be there, Naolin wanted to let Missy know what was going on. However, when he tried to connect directly to her com-disc, the result was a loud crackling noise.

_Where on earth did that butterfly wing take her?_ he mused silently. The inventor had said the range was unlimited, but apparently that was a bit of an exaggeration.

Not wanting to leave Missy with no explanation for his absence when she returned, he wrote a letter while waiting for the rest to arrive. It was not a very in-depth letter, just enough to tell her what was going on and that he'd be back in Prontera before very late that night.

He took a moment to explain to Drear what little he knew about where the merchant had gone, then made his request. "Drear, do me a favor. Hold onto this letter and give it to Missy once she returns? She'll probably be back pretty soon; she didn't expect to be gone for long."

The swordsman agreed easily. Drear had been slightly worried at how relaxed his brother was about what he'd gotten involved in.

"Naolin, aren't you worried about going so far into the Payon caves? You've never even been there before."

"You worry too much. The toughest things down there are just horongs. My new ice lance will tear through those. Anything else in that place won't be able to run away fast enough." Naolin winked at his brother. "I'm sure the five other people in the party will help a little bit too."

Naolin didn't give Drear any time to respond. The group was finally together and ready. He glanced at Alorinna and answered her smile with a nod. In front of them all stood Rainer, a priest, and the knight from before who'd let Naolin in on the situation.

Rainer deferred to the other man, whose voice was much more collected than it had been earlier when he'd spoken to Naolin alone.

"Alright everyone, the primary objective of this mission is to find the original two missing persons. One of them is a mage, and the son of one of the higher ranking Prontera officials. He was traveling with a rogue as a bodyguard. Odds are they are likely still together."

The knight looked over at the priest next to him, almost seeming annoyed by having him here. "We have previously sent out a search team of three knights to find the missing persons. They have been out of contact since they entered the cave. Seeing as how there aren't very many monsters that pose serious risk in that cave, it's more than likely they've simply been sidetracked. However, despite this, _certain_ government authorities have decided to be extra cautious in handling the situation."

The knight took a moment to spit on the ground in front of the priest next to him. "We are all quite certain this extra caution is based on the interests of our knights just as much as it is on the first two originally missing. My good friend here is going to open a portal for you all to Payon. The group of six of you should have no trouble going through the cave and getting to the bottom; Zane is in charge, so treat him accordingly. Assuming only minor problems, this mission should be completed well before morning tomorrow," the knight looked back to the six standing before him, "because we will_not_ have any more than minor problems. Understood?"

All six knights saluted in unison, "Yes, Sir!"

With that, the priest wasted no time in casting a warp spell to Payon. Neither did five knights hesitate to jump into it.

Naolin stopped for a moment to look back to his brother. He waved and pointed to his com-disc. Drear nodded and waved back, as Naolin stepped into the portal.


	7. Chapter 7

In the quiet Juno library, Missy spent some time browsing the shelves for just the right book to leave her message in. Not wanting to waste too much time, she eventually settled on the title _The Origins of the Wanderer Demon_. While searching, she found that the door at the end of the hall led to a room full of tables and chairs. There were very few people inside, and each of them was buried in a book.

Sitting down in the far corner of the room, Missy contemplated what to write.

"Dear Lena," she began the letter as she had many in the past. Instantly, she knew that was wrong. She couldn't use the priestess's name any more than Lena had herself. For that matter, how would she tell the librarian who she was putting the book on hold for?

It hit her then. Lena signed her letter with the name "Jayde" to tell Missy how to reply to her, if she needed to. She was frustrated that it took her so long to figure that out, though after all, she had gotten the impression from Lena's letter that the priestess would prefer no such reply. Unfortunately, it couldn't be helped.

Missy wrote the letter quickly, keeping it short and simple. She explained as best as she could the situation Lena was in with the Prontera church, and of course, why she and Alexander needed to be on the look out for a party of wizards and sages. She tried to stress the severity of what it could mean if they found her helping him, but at the same time, she had a strong feeling that Lena would not walk away from her friend to save herself.

Once she was satisfied with her note, she folded it and tucked it between two pages in the book, hoping that it would remain there long enough. She had no idea how long it might be before Lena returned to Juno. She went back to the counter and handed the book to the clerk, telling him she wanted to put it on hold for Jayde. He looked at her oddly, but agreed.

Back outside, the odd mage Nell was nowhere to be seen. And Beanbag had apparently returned to her cart for a nap of his own. She grabbed the handle of the cart and pulled out one of her own, normal butterfly wings. In the moment that it teleported her out, a blue-haired priestess arrived a few feet away. Missy caught only a second's glimpse of the woman, but even as the Pronteran crowd appeared around her, she knew who the woman was.

She turned immediately to the Kafra employee she'd arrived next to, waiting impatiently for her to finish talking to a young boy, who was clearly lost.

When the Kafra turned to her finally, Missy inquired, "Can you send me to Juno?"

"No, ma'am, I'm sorry," the woman replied with an inappropriately smiling face.

Missy waited for her to perhaps offer another option, but she simply stood there with that dopey grin. _Apparently she's one of the brighter Kafras_, Missy thought sarcastically.

"Can you suggest another route? Maybe you can send me to another Kafra who can get me there?"

"I can send you to Izlude, Geffen, Payon, Morroc, and Alberta."

Missy was sure the woman's cheeks must have been permanently stretched to that position.

"Okay, that's great. But which one of those will get me closer to Juno? It's north of Rune-Midgard, right? It was pretty cold there. So, I guess Geffen would be best?"

Blank stare.

"Never mind. Just send me to Geffen, please."

"Of course!"

Missy made a mental note to avoid this particular Kafra in the future.

As she was handing her the zeny, however, she heard someone say her name.

"You're back?" Drear inquired over the com-disc.

"Yeah…how'd you…"

"The link has been fuzzy up until now. You must have been somewhere pretty far away."

"I was in Juno. And I have to go back now. I'll tell you about it later."

"Can it wait?"

His voice sounded animated, which was at least enough to cause Missy to put a hold on her teleport.

"I don't really think it can. I don't know how long she'll--wait, what's going on?"

"Naolin went on his first mission with the knight guild. He left a note for you."

He promised he was nearby, so she waited while he came to meet her. The note didn't contain much, hardly more than what Drear had just told her. And nothing that would warrant her missing the chance to catch Lena in Juno.

"This is, um, very exciting for him, I understand, but…" She didn't know how to explain any of this to Drear; he knew little to nothing about Lena Isabelle, let alone her recent troubles. But Missy also didn't want to blow the swordsman off either. Lena wouldn't be in Juno long, though; she might even be gone already.

"But you're in the middle of something important yourself," the swordsman finished for her.

"A good friend of mine is in trouble. I have to go back to Juno and see if she's there."

"Juno? What kind of trouble?"

Missy tried to hide her anxiety. "I promise, I'll tell you all about it later, but I have to go. Now. It might already be too late."

"Is it dangerous? I think I should come with you."

"I don't even know how to get there," Missy cried. "I was just going to have this Kafra send me to Geffen, and see where I could go from there."

"So let's go." He headed to the Kafra. By the time Missy arrived in Geffen, he was already talking to the employee north of the fountain. "She can teleport us to the Coal Mines, Al de Baran, and back to Prontera."

"Okay, well Al de Baran's a little further north. I guess that's a good choice."

"Is that where Juno is?"

Missy wrung her hands in exasperation. "I--I don't know. I'm just guessing here. I tried to ask the Kafra woman back in Prontera, but she didn't seem to know."

"Then let's ask this one," Drear suggested calmly.

"Right. Good idea."

"You're on the right track," the woman told them. "My associate in Al de Baran can teleport you to Juno."

They thanked her and paid for the teleport.

* * *

Naolin was not overly impressed with his first mission for the knight guild so far. There had been no action to speak of, and it seemed like they were dealing with nothing but scared little kids. And of course, they'd not seen their primary target yet.

From the time they entered the cave and quickly made their way downward, they'd been met with one frightened teenager after another. Every one of them told a similar story.

"I was down here killing smokies, when all of a sudden, there weren't any."

"Any what?"

"Any smokies! I wandered all around the cave, but there's not a creature to be found – not even bats."

"Why don't you head on up outta here," Zane told them all at this point.

When the party of knights reached the crude, worn stairs that took them into the narrow passageways of the munaks and bonguns, Zane had them stop.

"I don't like what's going on here," he mused.

"You mean what's _not_ going on," Evan corrected him.

"Exactly. Evan, take lead for a few minutes. Hold here-- Actually, Rinna, take lead for a few minutes."

Evan made an irritated, high-pitched sound at that obvious affront to his abilities. Alorinna nodded at Zane calmly.

"Hold here until I get back. If anyone comes through, from either direction, send them outside."

"Mind if I ask where you're going, sir?" Alorinna questioned.

"I'm going outside to make sure they place some guards out there. No one needs to come in until we know why the wildlife is disappearing from this cave." He started walking away. "I'll be right back."

"We'll be here, sir."

Twenty minutes later, the five knights were still waiting for their leader to return, not that they would have expected him back yet anyway. The walk from here to the surface and back would take some time. They had seen two other people so far, people who may or may not have been looking to actually go to the next level ahead. Either way, they were instructed to leave the cave immediately. What the knights had not seen was anyone emerge from the lower area that they were standing near the near the entrance of. This is what caused the restlessness displayed by Evan and one of the other knights, a blonde named Faris.

The two had been muttering to each other for a few minutes. Naolin watched Alorinna to see if she was noticing the same as him. If she was, she didn't let on. At least not until Faris made an announcement.

"I'm going to stick my head in there, just for a sec. I'll be right back."

Alorinna was five steps away from him in a heartbeat. "No, you're not. You'll stay right here, as Zane instructed."

"I just want to see if it's as dead down there as it is here. Might help to know what we're facing."

"Oriana," Alorinna addressed the sixth knight in their party, another woman. Her eyes remained on Faris. "Naolin. You two are my witnesses. I told him to stay put, but chose not to use force. Even if he doesn't come back injured or dead, he'll face whatever consequences the knight guild would choose for disobeying a superior."

"You got it, Rinna," Oriana answered amusedly.

Naolin just grinned.

Faris said nothing, but his scowl clearly showed his thoughts.

"Did you think I'd just stand here and let you go?" she asked with a slight smirk. Looking at Evan, she added, "The same goes for you, too."

He held his hands up defensively. "I didn't do anything."

Naolin was impressed. He was going to enjoy having this woman in his guild, especially if she was as well-respected in the knight guild as she appeared to be. That could only benefit him, and the guild as a whole.

Another ten minutes went by, and things had been mostly quiet. Naolin decided to take advantage of this early break and see if Missy was reachable yet. Ever since trying to contact her earlier, he'd been incredibly curious about where she'd gone. Turning his com-disc to the direct link, he said her name. He was met with the same empty, fuzzy air as before.

"Drear Dark," he tried instead. Might as well check in with his brother who'd been so worried about this mission. But Drear's link sounded just like Missy's, and he had to work through this information in his head.

_Is it possible he's in the same place as her? But how could he be? He didn't even know what she was doing when I left. _I _barely know what she's doing. But then, what are the odds that he happens to be somewhere the com-disc doesn't work, just like her, and not be _with_ her?_

He came to the conclusion that his disc just hadn't connected to his brother's correctly, and it was still Missy's he was hearing. Before he had the chance to try his brother's disc again, he was nudged in the arm.

He turned back to the rest of the group to see Zane just returning; Alorinna was the one who'd gotten his attention.

"I'd appreciate it if everyone kept their discs to the party setting for the rest of this mission," Zane requested.

Naolin promptly complied. Apparently he wouldn't be getting any news through his com-disc right now anyway.

"Okay we're continuing on now," Zane continued. "Everyone stay alert, and speak up if you see…well, anything, really. Given the state of this place so far, finding everything ahead to be normal could be as interesting as finding…nothing." He took one final glance at the deserted room behind them, then stepped into the narrow passageway.


	8. Chapter 8

Soon enough, Missy and Drear had arrived in the foreign city.

"Wow," Drear marveled, looking around. "Are we…on top of a mountain or something?"

Missy followed his gaze, and saw a tall arch in the wall that seemed to surround the city. Past the arch, there was a path leaving the city, and it almost appeared to be suspended in the air. On either side of it, she could see nothing but sky, brilliantly painted by the sunset. For a second, she felt a little dizzy. Drear's voice stabilized her.

"So your friend is here somewhere?"

Missy glanced at the rest of the town around her and realized how completely different her surroundings were from her earlier visit. She hadn't exactly been here long before, but she'd hoped she would recognize something.

"I don't know. When I saw her, I was right outside the library."

"Okay, let's go. Where is it?"

Missy looked at him blankly. She was really tired of saying, "I don't know." He got the point though.

"I'll go see if I can find a guard," he volunteered.

While he was gone, Missy headed to the nearest person she saw. This part of the city at least seemed to be a bit more heavily populated. When she asked the sage where the library was, though, the young woman whispered something to another sage sitting next to her, and both women giggled. Neither offered any help. She didn't know whether to ask again or move on to someone else. Before she could do either, Drear had returned.

"This way," he gestured to the east, and they headed that direction. The road eventually turned north, and after a few more minutes of walking, Missy recognized the bench Nell had been laying on. Subconsciously, she glanced back into her cart. Beanbag was resting peacefully inside.

She pointed the building out to Drear, and the three of them went inside. The same man as before was behind the counter, and he clearly recognized her.

"Hello again, miss," he said with a knowing smile. "You just missed your friend."

"Did I?" Missy replied, trying to hide her disappointment. "She got the book I left her then?"

"That she did." He looked down at his arm, which was resting on a book. The title read _The Origins of the Wanderer Demon_. "If you came to see if she left you a 'book' in response, though, she didn't."

Missy forced out a nervous chuckle. "No, no, I had no idea she'd visit the library so soon. I just came to show my friend here your impressive collection." She didn't wait to see if the man bought her lie or not; she rushed Drear down the hall, and into one of the smaller shelf-lined rooms.

The man's suspicious look had scared her a bit. If he knew what they were using the books for, maybe he would somehow figure out who Lena was. She hoped Julius hadn't been lying when he said he wouldn't give his superiors her name in connection with the priestess. Although, if he had been lying, they probably would have had men here waiting for Lena when she came.

As she thought all of this through, nervously brushing her fingers through her hair, Drear eyed her with utter confusion and a hint of worry.

"Books?" he finally broke the silence. "I thought this was going to be dangerous."

"I never said that. I just said my friend was in trouble. For what it's worth, though, I'm glad you came."

"I noticed; now I'm your alibi," he teased.

"Sorry, but that guy was creeping me out."

Drear nodded in understanding. "So, now do I get to know what's going on?"

"If you want, but not here."

"Why? Do you think he's listening at the door or something?" he joked. When she didn't find the humor in his statement, his eyes widened. "Do you think he is?" he asked again in a whisper.

"Not really, but I'd still rather not discuss this here. Butterfly wing?" She held the transparent lavender wing out to him, and flicked one of her own to the ground after he took it.

Back in Prontera, as the night was beginning to creep over the city, Missy waited a few seconds for Drear to appear before realizing that she had no idea where he was registered. Checking to be sure her com-disc was on the direct setting, she stated his name to connect to his disc. She was met with static.

_He's still in Juno? What if he can't get back somehow?_ She chastised herself for such a silly thought. _He's not a child. He can find a Kafra employee to send him back. It was pretty much him who got us to Juno in the first place._ Then, the connection went silent.

"Drear?"

"Yeah."

"Where are you?"

"Payon, apparently."

"Figures." She wondered if she should go to Payon as well, or risk talking about Lena over the com-disc. She was probably being too paranoid.

After a few minutes of silence, Drear spoke again. "Hey, it looks like Naolin's mission has generated some interest here."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone's talking about something going on in the caves. Can't help but want to go see for myself."

"Might not be safe," Missy suggested.

"You may be right. I walked over to Archer Village, but I can't go into the cave."

Missy waited for a further explanation, but he offered none. Just as she was about to ask, he continued talking.

"They've got guards here, won't let anyone in. I tried to find out what's going on in there, but they won't say. I'm pretty sure they have no idea themselves."

"Is it bad?"

"I can't tell, but I don't think so. No one seems scared really, just curious – even people who said they were in there.

Missy didn't feel like going to Payon tonight. It had turned out to be a rather miserable day, despite how wonderful this afternoon had been.

"Maybe I'll come out there tomorrow," she offered. "By then it might be open; we can find out what's going on."

"I'll look for you."

* * *

The party marched swiftly through the winding stone halls that would lead them to the abandoned, decaying underground dwellings. Naolin was happy to be moving as quickly as they were. He wouldn't call himself claustrophobic, exactly, but he'd really never cared for how close together the walls were in this part of the cave.

In the past, the munaks, bonguns, and other deceased inhabitants of the civilization long forgotten had truly been a challenge for him. They tended to travel in packs and had a tendency to corner him against long, unending stone walls, which did not help with the lack of space. The fact that the knights reached the center of that miserable maze without seeing so much as a hydra in the pond they normally inhabited did little to ease Naolin's mind.

The party went down some crudely crafted stairs and was even further under the earth. They progressed more slowly now, each one warily watching the dilapidated houses of the dead city. Naolin remembered how eerie this place felt when he first came. The spirits and undead souls haunted their former homes, unwilling to let the trespassers desecrate them without a fight. The complete calm and utter silence was a thousand times worse.

They turned a corner, and Naolin knew they were close to the entrance to the bottom of the cave. He'd been near it before, though had never stepped foot through it. He recalled the unusual look to this particular doorway – the giant gaping mouth with long, threatening teeth, surrounding the blackness that swallowed anyone brave enough to enter. Why someone had crafted such a design around the entrance, he didn't know. A warning, perhaps, or even a sick joke.

They were closer, now, and he could see the face made of rock. He found himself wondering about those teeth. What would happen if one broke off and fell to the ground? Could a person survive being skewered by the sharp stone? Was it even sharp enough for that, or would it simply crush the victim under its weight?

Nearby, the sudden sound of a struggle led Naolin to instinctively draw his sword. He turned swiftly, finding Oriana on the ground. There was no assailant to be seen, but the young knight's eyes searched the darkness, looking for whatever might have knocked the woman down.

"You okay?" Zane was the first to ask. Naolin noticed that all four of the others had had similar reactions to him, standing now with their hands on the hilts of their swords, some drawn like his. Zane stepped over to Oriana and offered her a hand up.

"Yeah," she answered him uncertainly. "I guess I tripped over something.

Zane tapped something on the ground with his boot. In the dim light provided by curiously undying torches throughout the cavern, it wasn't clear what the object was. It looked like a knight's helmet.

"Let's go," the leader instructed grimly.

Five knights fell in behind him. Naolin moved a little slowly, to bring up the rear. As he stepped past the object on the ground, he looked down at it; from this angle, the light fell across the opening in the front of what was definitely a helm. He nearly tripped in surprise when he saw a pair of eyes staring back at him blankly. It took his mind a few seconds to confirm that there was a face inside the helmet, though the helm was not connected to anything else.

As the party stepped through the ominous gateway to the next level, Naolin knew he'd been wrong when he told his brother that the most dangerous thing here were the horongs. Something was different today. He had no idea _what _to expect, and he was even more excited now than before.

Once through the mouth, they were in the corner of a long, wide hallway formed by the cave wall behind them and a tall, brick wall in front of them. The manmade structure ran as far both directions as Naolin could see in the darkness.

The scene they encountered now was gruesome. Immediately they found the owner of the helm outside. The headless knight was only one of seven men in the area. The others were slumped against the walls, as if they were sleeping. Zane and Alorinna checked every one of them for a pulse, and came up empty.

More than one of them had been bandaged. Clearly they'd been in a fight, and had had time to attempt to rest and recover before being found here and slaughtered. Only two had a weapon drawn; they appeared to have been caught off guard.

Evan was the first to speak, and Naolin started at how loud his voice sounded in the suffocating silence of this tomb. He asked the question they were all silently wondering.

"What the _hell_ happened here?"

No one had an answer.


	9. Chapter 9

"Alorinna," Zane said in a subdued tone. "Contact the knight guild. Tell them we found the first rescue team."

Alorinna nodded and reached for her com-disc, taking a few steps away from the rest of the group. Naolin looked around, confirming that there were three knights among the bodies there. None of them looked familiar to him, but he hadn't been a knight long himself. Oriana, however, appeared to know at least one of the men, as she knelt next to him with tears in her eyes.

"Can we save them?" Naolin questioned hopefully. "Carry them out; surely in the crowd outside there must be someone--"

"Nah, it's too late," Evan broke in bluntly. "They're cold; by the time we got all the way to the surface, there's no way they'd have a chance."

Zane sighed. "He may be completely tactless, but he's right. Oriana," he called softly to her, and waited for her to stand and face him. "Keep watch down that way," he pointed behind him. "Evan, guard the other way." That left only Faris and Naolin with Zane, and to them he said, "We need to gather their identification to take back, especially from those who aren't knights. I'm sure someone would like to know what happened to them."

Naolin would rather have been chosen for guard duty, but still he stepped toward the nearest body – a hunter. He knelt and reached gingerly into the pocket of the young man's shirt. He found no identification, but did pull out a green, dried-up leaf. He knew immediately what it was, having seen one used before. He acted quickly, his hands shaking and heart pounding furiously. He crushed the leaf over the hunter's face and let the pieces float down onto his skin.

He could already tell that the yggdrasil leaf was having no effect, but he waited the full ten seconds anyway. In the end, the hunter was still dead, and Naolin was extremely disappointed. Maybe he should have tried to find a body that hadn't been dead as long; it would be warmer than this one, he assumed. Or maybe he would have been better off saving the leaf for later. What if someone in their party died?

This was all so morbid. He couldn't even believe he was thinking such thoughts. He went back to searching the hunter's pockets until he produced a card that was similar to the one the knight guild had recently issued him. This man's name was Jess Calver. Zane was right; someone would want to know that Jess Calver was dead.

Naolin straightened back up as he heard a sudden gagging sound to his left. Faris didn't seem to be handling the gruesome task very well. He was leaning against the brick wall, throwing up on the hard ground. Naolin eyed the body near Faris; the knight's armor had been punctured in the abdomen, and entrails had slid out of the gash. He would prefer to avoid that mess himself, so he moved the opposite direction to find another body.

Alorinna rejoined them now, and quietly said something to Faris as she went by him. She went straight for the dead knight that Naolin had avoided, and didn't hesitate to search for his identification. Again Naolin was impressed with his new guild member, and struck with a pretty clear feeling that she shouldn't be under the leadership of someone like him.

Zane looked up from his own search and noticed she was back. "Rinna? Did you get a hold of the knight guild?"

"Yes. Rainer was glad to know we'd found them, but of course he didn't like the state we found them in."

Naolin busied himself with the task at hand while they talked.

"He wanted to know if we needed anything," Alorinna continued, moving on to another body as well.

Zane laughed wryly at that. "Need anything…"

"Supplies, reinforcements…a priest. I told him a priest might be nice, and that I'd talk to you about the rest."

Zane glanced at Naolin, then looked back at Alorinna. "I really don't think--"

"I know, sir. But there might be others. Besides, I still can't help but want to give these men a decent chance."

Naolin looked back at the hunter. He knew the man wasn't going to be resurrected by any priest, but he did have the same thought as her. There were seven dead here; surely one of them could still have a chance.

"Okay. I have no idea what is down here, but it has to be something. I have a hard time believing that whatever killed these men has left the cave, especially considering that they'd have no reason to. If we get into a fight, a priest could only help." Taking another look around the room, Naolin knew he had to be thinking about what could kill seven men with so little resistance. "I think we're going to want more men too. Let's hold off until we know what we're dealing with though…if anything."

Naolin now had two identification cards in his hand as he moved toward another body, this time a blacksmith. A massive axe lay near his hands, with not even a drop of blood on the blade. The only blood was on the handle where the smith's own life force had flowed down his arms and onto the wood, before he had dropped it.

Still several feet away from the blacksmith, Naolin tripped and fell to the ground. His face warmed as he heard his comrades call to him, asking if he was okay. Evan looked back from his guard position, barely even registering concern at his fallen party member. It was just as well.

"I'm fine," Naolin muttered. Zane, Alorinna, and Faris were staring at him, probably wondering if he was going to throw up too. "Really, my foot caught on something, that's all." He was already to his feet, hoping to assure them quickly. It worked, and they all went back to their work. Even Faris, who had apparently found a less gory body to work with.

After Oriana's encounter with the knight's head outside, Naolin knew he should just move on, but he couldn't help but wonder what he had tripped over. However, there was nothing there. Not even a rock or a bump in the smooth, stone floor. Slowly, cautiously, he took a few steps back in the direction he'd come.

His foot connected with something solid. Solid, but soft. He backed up again. It was invisible. His mind flashed back to Missy laying on the floor of the underground lab near Payon, invisible because of her hide clip, but still bleeding out. He knelt down and frantically began reaching toward whoever was there. He didn't know much about the thief class hiding skills, but he had a feeling that the cloak would disappear if the person died. Someone might still be alive here after all.

He groped around blindly, first searching for a clip or other accessory attached to the person's clothing. Finding nothing, he knew whoever this was must belong to one of the thief classes. And now he was at a loss.

"Hey!" he called over his shoulder. "How do you uncloak someone?"

He received a few questioning looks, but Alorinna seemed to understand, and was at his side in an instant. Zane was right behind her. The black-haired woman knelt down next to him carefully, reaching toward the seemingly empty spot on the ground like he was. When she connected with the unseen victim, she felt around a little more, then suddenly pulled her hand back and swung it hard.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Naolin cried.

Before she could respond, a woman materialized in front of them. She was breathing, though shallowly. Her blonde hair was matted with dirt, blood, and sweat, and the red jacket and shorts that identified her as a rogue were torn and darkened with blood. Her left shoulder was wrapped in a bandage, which was also soaked through with blood.

"The only way to force someone out of a cloak is to cause them physical pain," Alorinna explained. She placed two fingers on the woman's neck. "Her pulse is weak."

"Here." Behind her, Zane had already pulled a white potion out of his bag and held it out to her now.

Alorinna uncorked the bottle and held it to the rogue's lips. She poured slowly at first, making sure as much of the liquid went into her mouth as possible. The bottle was half empty before the rogue began to stir, then cough, as the fluid flowed down her throat. When the woman turned her head to the side to avoid the liquid that was causing her to choke, Alorinna pulled the bottle back.

She corked the potion and handed it to Naolin to free both of her hands, as she reached forward. Putting one hand on the woman's shoulder, she lightly slapped her cheek with the other.

"Wake up, honey, come on," she called to the stranger. "Come on, wake up."

The rogue's head rolled from side to side as she fought consciousness. Naolin remembered the feeling all too well. As he did not particularly want to recall it right now, he glanced around. Alorinna and Zane were here, and Evan and Oriana were still guarding the hallways. Faris was the only one who was still gathering identification cards, and even he was paying more attention to this scene than he was to his duty.

Naolin leaned back and made eye contact with Zane. He pointed toward the blacksmith he'd previously been heading toward to indicate that he was going to continue with their previous work, and Zane nodded.

He had collected two more cards before he heard the sounds of life from the rogue. Faris was patting the pockets of the only body left, so Naolin turned back toward the living victim. Alorinna was helping her sit up.

"Are you with us?" Alorinna asked gently.

The rogue nodded weakly, adding a coarse, "I think so."

"Can you tell us your name?"

"Sal."

"Sal, can you tell us what happened?" Zane questioned her urgently.

"I-I don't really know," she managed. Then she coughed again. "Please, do you have some water?"

Alorinna looked around until she found Naolin. "Drink the rest of this," she suggested, gesturing for him to bring the bottle back.

As Sal drank, she looked around, taking in the scene. By the way her dark eyes fell with every body they made contact with, it was clear that this was not the way things had been when she'd passed out. Returning her gaze to the two in front of her who were hungry for information, she gave them an apologetic look.

"Really, I can't tell you much." She finished the potion and handed the empty bottle back to Alorinna, expressing her gratitude. "We were somewhere near the center of this place when we were attacked by creatures I've never seen down here – some I've never seen before at all – and did our best to fight them off. But there were just so many of them, and some were _ungodly_ strong."

Sal squeezed her eyes shut tightly, then moved to stand up. Alorinna offered her a hand.

The rogue continued, "We were lucky enough to find some others who were down here, and we all worked together to fight off the monsters. Then these knights came, and I thought we would beat them. But they just kept coming. Nightmare horses, deviruchis, and wraiths! That floating creature with the skulls on its shoulders was the most horrible thing I've ever seen. It all but obliterated a priest with a meteor it summoned as fast as you can blink."

Looking around again, she explained, "This is only half of what we had fighting in there. We ran, hoping to get away. When we got out here, it seemed pretty obvious that they weren't following, or we would have already been dead. Enough of us were having a hard time continuing on, so it was suggested that we stop here."

Her eyes darkened as she recalled the events. "It was only then that I realized that my client wasn't with us. One of the knights said he'd seen him fall to a deviruchi's attack while we were escaping."

"Your client?" Zane echoed, glancing at Alorinna, and then at Naolin.

Sal nodded. "He was a mage from Prontera, and his father had paid well for him to have a bodyguard. That's all I know; it's all I needed to know."

That explained what happened to the politician's son. Of course, their mission had expanded past the mage, or even these knights now.


	10. Chapter 10

"I am so ashamed of my behavior," Sal muttered. "The first time the situation got _really_ bad, I thought only of myself, and left the one I was charged with protecting to die."

Zane cleared his throat. "So if you all got away, what happened here?"

Sal stared at him as she continued. "The knights took charge, making sure everyone who needed it was bandaged, and distributing what potions they'd brought. They were discussing whether they should help the rest of us leave, or go back and fight, and I think one of them was about to contact his superiors." She eyed the body just inside the doorway, and she dry heaved as she replayed the beheading in her mind. "He was dead before we even realized we were under attack. They overran us so fast! I, at least, had the presence of mind to cloak myself, but it's the last thing I remember doing. I had every intention of fighting alongside the rest of these men, but I think I must've lost more blood than I'd realized."

"Do you have any idea how long you were unconscious for?" Zane wondered.

The rogue shook her head silently.

He was quiet for a few seconds before addressing Alorinna. "You said you already requested a priest, right?"

"Yes."

"Talk to Rainer again; tell him to send as many reinforcements as he can gather quickly. We need to deal with this, because we can't just leave the cave closed off forever. Also, see what the status is on the priest."

"Yes, sir." She moved away from the rest again, toward the entrance to this level.

Zane spoke to Sal again. "We are going to get you out of here as soon as we can spare someone to go with you. We didn't see a single monster on the way here, but I won't take any chances."

Sal was shaking her head, and broke into his last word. "No, I don't want to leave. I feel okay now, and I want to help. I've done enough running away."

"No," Zane countered.

Leaving them to argue, Naolin went back to the body of the blacksmith he had searched earlier. In the same bag that he'd found the identification card, he had discovered a hastily scrawled note. The man had only enough time for a few words.

"_Dear Lamya_," it said. "_I love you so much. Take good care of our--_"

Naolin had pocketed the note when he'd first come across it. He didn't know what was going to happen to these bodies, if they'd be carried out and buried properly, or overrun by a wave of monsters. The note, however short, would make it to the person it was intended for, as long as he could help it.

He remembered seeing more paper, and the pen the smith had used, in the same bag. That was what he was after now. After hearing the rogue's description of the situation, Naolin wasn't completely sure he would survive this mission. He was beginning to realize that he didn't belong here with these much more experienced knights anyway. Suddenly he just wanted more than anything to make sure that Missy knew he was thinking of her before he died. He could always tear it up if he did survive.

He knew he didn't have a lot of time, but as he sat down to write, the pen just wouldn't move. The only thing he could think of was how unfair this was. He'd only just recently held her in his arms for the first time. And now he may never see her again. He was beginning to wish he hadn't waited so long to tell her how he felt about her.

His thoughts drifted to Drear as well, the brother that he had lost for years, and then finally found again. Drear would essentially have no family if he lost his older brother again. And Missy had gone through enough pain with the loss of her father.

Tears stung his eyes as he wrote, and he contemplated requesting to be the one to accompany Sal to the surface, if, of course, she let herself be taken away from here. Could he really do that? He might be the best choice anyway, since the trip back shouldn't be nearly as dangerous as this place clearly was.

He looked up to see that Zane and Sal seemed to have finished their discussion, and Alorinna was headed back. He finished the letter quickly, and pocketed it with the blacksmith's as he stood to rejoin the others. Glancing behind him, he noted that Evan was still diligently guarding the hallway. He was surprised that the impatient man would stay on such a boring task this long.

"Yes, sir," Alorinna was saying as he approached, "he said that he'd already started gathering another, larger party to send after I last contacted him. Just in case. And he's been informed by the sanctuary in Prontera that a priest is already on his way. He may be in the cave already."

"Good, good," Zane replied.

"He also wanted me to remind you of how late it is, and said that he really hopes he's not waking so many people in the middle of the night for nothing."

Zane rolled his eyes. "You told him of Sal's report?"

"Of course. But sir, we've been here for almost twenty minutes now, with no hint of danger. We have no idea how long she was out. Maybe the threat is gone."

He thought about that for a moment. "I suppose it would be good to have information of our own to report before we bring in an army." Over the com-disc he instructed Oriana and Evan to come back to the rest of the party. Once they were there, he laid out his plan.

"Faris and Alorinna, I'd like you two to stay here with Sal and wait for the priest. He could be here any minute. Evan, Oriana, and Naolin, you'll come with me. We are only going for a visual, and we will be back as soon as we can."

Before following the rest of his group, Naolin held out two notes to Alorinna. She took them with a question on her face.

"Just make sure these get delivered. In case I don't return."

With a smile of reassurance, she said, "You're only going--"

"Then you can return them when I come back. Do me a favor and hold onto them for now." He left without waiting for a response. He did feel a little overdramatic, but he didn't care at this point.

He followed the others down the hallway to the right, and when he caught up, they'd gone through a gap in the brick wall and were headed right again. To the left, he saw an unfamiliar creature run around another corner, headed toward him. It was the shape of a horse, though seemed to be made up of pink and purple flames. It was followed by a small, dark, rectangular-shaped creature carrying a little pitchfork. When the horse saw him, both picked up speed.

"Zane, behind you!" he called across the party link, as he turned and ran to catch up to the others. All three of the knights stopped suddenly and spun around, drawing their swords as one.

The small one reached Naolin first and charged at him with its pitchfork out front. Naolin went for his shield, but underestimated the speed of the little demon. He felt a stinging in his abdomen. The tines were sharp, and they must've had a lot of power behind them. It had pierced his plate mail, though he knew it wasn't a serious wound. The vision of the body that had made Faris sick earlier danced in his head, and he forced his mind back on the fight.

Both Evan and Oriana had already run past him to engage the horse monster. Zane had come to his side, and blocked the pitchfork with his sword. Naolin took the opportunity to swing his own sword at whatever part of such a small body he could connect with. His sword sliced a few inches into the monster, but the thing jumped to the side nimbly, and pulled its weapon away from Zane's sword.

With its focus still on the younger knight, the demon jabbed its pitchfork at Naolin a second time. This time though, he was ready with his shield. Even still, the fork went into the shield a few inches. Naolin used this to his advantage, and twisted the shield to the side, yanking the weapon away from the little demon. With both hands, Zane swung his own sword at the monster, and his went clean through it. The demon fell to the ground, and a dark figure floated up away from it. Naolin assumed that meant it was dead, which was confirmed by Zane.

The com-disc was alive with chatter during the fight. Naolin's warning shout must've worried those they'd left at the entrance.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" Alorinna asked worriedly. "I can be there in a few seconds if you need help."

"Stay there, Rinna," Zane instructed. "We've got it, don't worry."

"It's just a deviruchi and a nightmare," Evan added.

"And an owl duke!" Oriana yelled, looking in the direction the other monsters had come from.

The new creature was a little late joining the fray, but it opened with a powerful lightning bolt to compensate. The bolt shot right at Evan, who hadn't looked up from the nightmare he was fighting yet. Oriana saw the magic coming though, and threw herself at the other knight.

The overdressed bird missed both knights, but did not seem to upset about it. It moved closer for another attack, but was met by Zane, who immediately bashed the creature on the head with the hilt of his sword.

"What the hell was that for?" Evan sputtered from the floor, apparently oblivious to how close he had been to serious injury.

Oriana didn't answer, and Naolin rushed over when he saw why. She had landed in front of the nightmare Evan had been fighting, and it had reared up on its hind legs, crushing her under its front hooves when it landed.


	11. Chapter 11

As he closed the short distance to her, he called, "Evan! The nightmare, get it off of her!" 

The green-haired knight was on the opposite side of the monster from him, so Naolin couldn't tell if Evan was doing anything or not. Oriana lay on the ground with her arms up over her head, not moving. Her armor and helm were dented.

Naolin looked up in time to see the mass of pastel-colored flames coming toward him at an alarmingly high speed. With an involuntary yell, he held up his shield in defense. The thing hit him hard, knocking him to the ground. He imagined his skull dented in like Oriana's helm, and swung his sword out, hoping to slice into and incapacitate any thundering hooves. He connected with something, but it turned out to actually be the rump of the beast. He realized then that it hadn't been attacking him; rather, it had been pushed toward him, probably by a _Bowling Bash_.

Before Naolin could get to his feet, the nightmare suddenly began to fade away, its flames dissipating. On the other side stood Evan with a smirk on his face.

"You're welcome," he sneered. He then turned and rushed to attack the owl duke, despite the fact that Zane had clearly claimed dominance over the all-but-beaten monster.

Naolin abandoned the plan of standing back up and instead scrambled over to Oriana on his hands and knees. She had dropped her arms and was looking around with fear-filled eyes.

"It's gone," Naolin assured her. "Are you okay?" He reached a hand toward her helmet. The fact that she was conscious gave him high hopes for the state of her skull.

"Yeah, I don't think it did any real damage," she answered him. Seeing where his hand was, she raised her eyes in a futile attempt to see her own head. "How bad is it?"

"I don't think your helm survived the attack," he joked weakly.

She laughed, which seemed to alleviate the tension she was feeling, and she started getting to her feet. Naolin did the same. Zane and Evan were there with them now, and the former knight offered a hand to Oriana. He saw the helm and gave her a concerned look.

"Let's get that off," he suggested. "Make sure you're okay under there."

"If my skull had been caved in, don't you think I'd know?" She gave him an amused look, which turned serious as she pointed to Naolin. "Besides, if there's anyone you should worry about, it's him."

Three pairs of eyes stared at him, and he stared back with a furrowed brow. All three pairs of eyes traveled down to his abdomen at the same time that he felt the intense stinging pain again. He'd forgotten. Naolin looked down for the first time.

_It looks worse than it is, really_, he wanted to say. Even now, blood was streaming through the small holes in his armor. Without the adrenaline and distraction of the battle to deaden the pain, it was almost unbearable. He fell to his knees, and a coppery taste filled his mouth.

Zane was suddenly there next to him, supporting him so he wouldn't fall the rest of the way. Naolin heard Evan let out a bored sigh.

"You know, that's not going to protect you like that," Evan said, pointing to Oriana. Naolin didn't catch her response.

"Naolin!" he heard to his right. Zane was yelling at him, so he turned his head. The man had a white potion in his hand, and was trying to get Naolin to drink it.

"Potions…right, I brought some of those," Naolin mumbled.

"Take this one, it's right here," Zane insisted. He pressed the bottle into Naolin's hand. "Drink it!"

Naolin did as he said, and felt the familiar tingling that meant his wound was mending. Priest heals were virtually instant, and he'd never treated an injury this severe with a potion. The sensation was almost painful in itself. Once the potion was gone, the pain went with it, but he still felt a little weak.

"You lost a lot of blood," Zane guessed, "and a potion will not compensate for that. Juice." He looked at the other two. "Did anyone bring some juice?"

They both shook their heads.

"Oh, wait!" Oriana exclaimed, reaching into a pouch. "I always carry a few grape juice, just in case, but I tend to forget it's in there. Will this help?" She held out two bottles.

"I believe so," the leader took them and handed them to Naolin. "It'll help your body produce more blood faster. We're going to need you at full strength."

Evan was rolling his eyes; Naolin knew that without having to see the man. He took the juice and drank one quickly. He hated that he was the one holding up the group. He stood up before Zane felt the need to help him up, and downed the second juice.

Zane looked at him with a question in his eyes, and Naolin nodded quickly.

"Okay, let's go then," the older knight announced.

They continued the way they'd originally been going. Before long, they encountered another group of monsters identical to the previous, as if someone – or some_thing_ – had organized these random monsters into patrol units. They met this group head on, and took them out more easily. Naolin made sure to keep his shield up more this time, and was pleased to discover his strength mostly returning.

Once all three monsters were dead, Zane decided it was time for a new plan.

"I won't waste any more time fighting an endless stream of these things," he resolved. Looking up, he continued, "Sal said that they encountered the bulk of the monsters somewhere in the middle of this place, right? Since we're only here for a visual, the safest way to do that might be to just take a look over the wall."

"Over the wall?" Evan echoed skeptically.

"It's pretty high, sir," Oriana pointed out. "And whoever is up there could end up being a big target for whatever is over there."

Evan's demeanor changed quickly upon hearing that. "Over the wall, brilliant!" He placed a hand on the brick and looked up; it was almost twice as tall as him. "Um…one question…"

"No," Zane stated flatly. Silencing Evan's next words, he said, "No, you aren't going. You and I are too heavy to be helped up. Oriana would be my first choice, except…"

"My helm and armor are damaged," she finished for him. "I wouldn't stand a chance if I was spotted."

"Naolin, that leaves you. How are you feeling now? Are you up to this?"

"Definitely!" he agreed enthusiastically. He badly wanted to see what was over that wall anyway.

Zane grinned. "Okay, then. Evan, stand here." He directed him opposite himself, and both men leaned forward, clasping their hands together, a foot above the ground and a foot apart.

Naolin tried to ignore how utterly ridiculous this felt, and stepped into Zane's hands first, then Evan's. Steadying himself against the wall, he felt himself being lifted.

Below him, Evan grunted. "You're heavier than you look."

"It's all muscle mass," Naolin smirked. As soon as he was within reach, he gripped the top of the wall and began pulling himself up, with more pushing from below. He barely had his head over the top before he instinctively ducked it back down.

"Sir," he said over the com-disc, his voice barely above a whisper. "I suggest we go. Now."

"Why? What do you see?" came the response.

Naolin dared another peek, lifting himself a little higher with his arms. In the center of the system of hallways on this level was a platform. The platform, and some of the ground around it, was swarming with more monsters than he'd ever seen in his life. Hundreds, as best as he could estimate; maybe even a thousand. Some he recognized – horongs, dokebis, argiopes, and, of course, more of the three they'd already fought today. But, like Sal, there were a lot of species he'd never seen before. On the other side of the platform from him, in a corner made by a wall similar to the one he was on, a five or six foot hole in the ground seemed to be the source of the foreign invaders. More were climbing up through it even now.

Somewhere in the midst of it all was one that was different - Sal's "floating creature with the skulls on its shoulders." It had strange markings on its body, and a dark aura surrounding it.

Suddenly Naolin was so afraid of being spotted by just one creature in that mob that he hissed, "Get me down!"

With help from the men below him, he lifted himself off of the wall, and jumped down when he was close enough. As the four knights headed back to the others, Naolin told them what he'd seen.

"You know, I was thinking," he added, "that the combination of some of the creatures I saw in there seemed very familiar."

"How's that?" Zane inquired.

"Dokebis, horongs, nine tails…those were all monsters we fought in the Greenwood Forest castles. They were coming from some sort of massive cave below the forest. That's not very far from here, and who knows how big that place could be."

"No, but I read the reports from that mission. Not a single one of them included a Dark Illusion, or deviruchis, or owl dukes. And I'm pretty sure that the one larger creature you mentioned is a Dark Illusion; there certainly wasn't one of those in the castles."

"But still, it makes sense, doesn't it?" Naolin mused. "If they had nowhere else to go and they wanted out badly enough."

"In the process of finding another way out, they could very possibly have broken through to other caves filled with these other creatures," Oriana hypothesized. "If there's one, who knows how many more there could be that we don't know about yet?"

No one else spoke until they'd returned to the entrance, and then, the topic of conversation was why Alorinna was the only one there.


	12. Chapter 12

"The priest came," she explained. "I'm sorry; I would have told you, but it sounded like you guys had a lot to deal with. I didn't want to interrupt."

Naolin had been looking around while she talked. The room was emptier than he remembered. "What happened to the rest of the bodies?" he wondered aloud.

"They're not bodies anymore. The first thing the priest did was resurrect the ones that he sensed could be saved. And then he tried on the rest, just in case."

Without thinking, Naolin glanced at the hunter he'd used the leaf on. He was still there. The blacksmith, however, was gone. He wondered if he should tear up the note to Lamya, or try to give it back to the man. Then he remembered that Alorinna had the notes.

"He resurrected two of our knights!" Zane observed. "I thought for sure that they were all too far gone."

Naolin noticed Oriana's eyes filling with fresh tears. He followed her gaze and saw that the man she'd been crying over earlier was still lying on the ground.

"I'll assume, then, that you sent everyone to the surface," Zane guessed.

"Yes," Alorinna confirmed, as she stepped over to Naolin. She smiled as she handed him both of the notes and continued talking. "The priest made sure everyone was completely healed, and I didn't see any reason to keep them here. I sent Faris to make sure they got out okay. Sal went too."

"And the priest?" Zane prompted.

Alorinna's face lost its cheerfulness. "Didn't he find you?"

"We didn't see anyone. He came after us?"

"I asked him not to, but when I gave him an idea of what we might be up against, he insisted. I pointed him in the direction you'd gone; I don't know where he could be."

"We know what's over there now. Naolin saw--"

"I know." She pointed at the disc on her sleeve.

"Right. Did you get his name then?"

"No, he was all business. No time for pleasantries."

"Well, we need to find him. And we need to talk to Rainer again, to tell him to wake up _everyone_. He is going to have to contact the other class guilds and have them send people too. This is not going to be an easy fight."

"Yeah, that's kind of an understatement, don't you think?" Evan interjected. "I mean, if that thing him and the rogue described is a Dark Illusion, which is the only thing it could be – I mean, that's not really going to go well."

"Which is exactly why we need as much help as we can get," Zane reiterated impatiently. "Rinna--"

"Contact Rainer again, got it," she interrupted him.

"Yes, but do it while walking. We need to find that priest, especially if he's wandering the halls trying to resurrect people, oblivious to what's out there. We're going to split up. Rinna, with me. Evan, you and Naolin head that way." He pointed left of the entrance. "Stay to the outer hallways only; if he's gone to the center, he's dead anyway."

They went their separate directions, and Zane's final words were over the party link. "If you see him, let us know immediately."

Naolin and Evan walked in silence for a few minutes. Zane hadn't given Evan a chance to protest the partner he'd been stuck with, but Naolin still expected some complaints or insults from the older knight now. Apparently even Evan knew better than to cause problems at this point.

The first thing they found was not the priest. It was a pair of dancing skeletons, both carrying a pair of daggers.

"Skeleton general," Naolin identified the lead figure by its armor and rusted helmet. Its companion was a soldier skeleton, but neither knight felt the need to specify that.

"Get the other one, kid," Evan directed, drawing his weapon as he moved slowly toward the pair.

Naolin remembered the last time he fought one of these. He was still a swordsman then, but it was not an easy fight. If Evan really wanted the general to himself, he was welcome to it – at least until Naolin had killed the soldier. Evan engaged the front skeleton and parried its first attack with his sword. Naolin hurried past him, reaching past his normal weapon and instead drawing another weapon he'd brought for this trip.

"Fire weapon, if you've got it," he heard Evan remind him. Naolin only smiled as he glanced at the blade of his tsurugi, faintly glowing red.

He joined in the skeleton's dance as if he belonged there. Block one dagger, parry the other, shuffle back and forth. These daggers weren't just sharp, they were rusty as well. He knew from experience that they hurt, and he was not willing to be injured again on this mission. He also knew that these skeletons, lacking flesh or blood, could not be slowed down by mere injury. They would fight until they didn't have enough parts connected anymore. He could only continue to dance until he found his moment, and then--

The skeleton lost one arm. Lacking enough of a brain to truly comprehend its new handicap, it only stared at its opponent with the same blank expression, and continued to attack with its other arm. The dance was much easier for Naolin now, with only one dagger to guard against. Before long, the skeleton was on the ground in pieces. He turned around to check on Evan, thinking that the fight had been easier than he remembered.

Behind him, Evan had apparently settled into a dance routine of his own with the skeleton general. Considering that the older knight was several yards back from where he'd started the fight, Naolin guessed that the skeleton was leading this dance. Given the strength these generals had, though, he was not surprised by the way the fight seemed to be going. Evan appeared uninjured, which was certainly an accomplishment in itself.

Naolin had a great advantage here; the skeleton's back was to him. The general wore more armor than its soldiers, and many vital points, such as the neck, were protected. There was a gap near its mid-section, though, so Naolin made that his target. He took a swing, but was bewildered when his sword stopped a few inches in. Retracting it quickly, he held his shield up instinctively. The skeleton never turned. Looking more closely, Naolin now noticed that there were muscles and ligaments still attached to the bones and joints of this monster. Apparently "skeleton" was not a completely accurate classification.

Evan was breathing heavily, and Naolin could tell he was having a hard time keeping up with the general's advances. With little time to think, Naolin swung his tsurugi in a low arc, and sliced through the beast's right leg. Instead of falling, or even stumbling, it reached out one arm and grabbed Evan's armor, dropping a dagger in the process.

"What the hell…!" Evan yelled. He took a few forced steps backwards, trying to free himself from the bony grip. The skeleton swung its free arm – with the dagger – around high, but Evan saw it in time to block with his own arm. The knight was sufficiently tied up now, and straining under the weight of the skeleton.

Naolin didn't know what else to do, so he just began slashing at the exposed abdomen. He had to keep moving forward as Evan, with his dancing partner, staggered backwards. Naolin was acutely aware of how close the tip of his blade was to Evan's waist.

_This is taking far too long_, he thought. He lifted his sword to shoulder-height and shoved it through the skeleton general's helmet and into its skull with a yell. The struggle finally stopped, which Naolin was relieved to see. After discovering the somewhat less skeletal nature of the general, he had hoped that perhaps there was some sort of brain still in its head. It appeared he had been correct. Unfortunately, as the monster collapsed onto its opponent, Naolin's tsurugi went with it, now firmly embedded in the skull.

Evan fell hard. The bones of the freshly killed skeleton dropped on top of him. The beast's dagger slashed his shoulder as it descended from its former owner's hand.

Naolin glanced behind him, wondering if the noise they'd been making had attracted any attention, and heard Evan grunt in pain.

"You okay?" Naolin asked quickly as he sheathed his sword.

"I can't get up," Evan responded reluctantly. "These skeletons are heavier than they look."

Bones crunched as Naolin stepped closer to Evan.

"I would leave you down there if I didn't figure you'd find a way out eventually," Naolin jabbed at Evan.

Evan just glared back. Naolin smiled inwardly. He relished the fact that Evan had been put into such a vulnerable position. The older knight's humiliation had finally made Naolin feel a little above him for once.

Naolin approached and, with Evan's help, pushed the skeletal pieces to the side, allowing the fallen knight to climb to his feet.

"Thanks," Evan spit out quietly.

Naolin said nothing. He was too busy staring at the man who had just shown up behind Evan. He assumed it was the priest; at least the man's clothing _resembled_ what Naolin was used to seeing on priests, but there was more white on this man's.

The man greeted them, and Evan spun around in surprise. "I've been looking for you," the priest said.

"Yeah, same," Evan muttered.

The priest opened his mouth to continue talking, but was stopped by the older knight's brief explanation.

"We're leaving the cave until our reinforcements come."

As he worked to free his tsurugi from the lifeless skull, Naolin added, "We came to find you to take you with us. It is very dangerous down here."

The priest nodded in agreement. "So I've seen." He walked over and helped with the sword. Together they extracted it quickly, and all three turned and started walking.

"Hey, since you're here," Evan slowed down, craning his neck to look at the wound on his shoulder. "You mind?"

The priest stopped and turned back, while Naolin kept walking, though slowly. He remembered their leader's request, and quickly spoke over the com-disc.

"Zane, we found him. We're heading to the entrance now."

"Great, thanks," the man replied. "We'll meet you there."

Naolin glanced behind him to see that he was a few yards ahead of the other two, so he stopped to wait.

"Hey, what's your name, anyway?" he called to the priest.

The man looked up to answer him, but all that came out was an indecipherable yell, as his eyes widened.

The shout drew Evan's attention, and he added, "Naolin, watch it!"

Naolin turned around to find himself face to…mouth with a huge monster. All he could see was what appeared to be a mass of dark-colored fur, and a giant mouth in the middle of the fur. He tried to backpedal, but the mouth opened, revealing two long, sharp teeth along the bottom, and engulfed him. The last thing he remembered was an agonizing pinching feeling in his stomach, an unnatural warmth, and then darkness.


	13. Chapter 13

The sun had not been up long, yet Missy was on her way to meet Drear in Archer Village, dragging her cart behind her groggily. Normally she would still be asleep this early, but like many others this morning, she'd been dragged out of bed at an unpleasant hour. Most of the crowd outside the Payon caves, however, had been awakened by their class guild leaders. That was not the case for Missy. The only reason she even knew about all of this was because of the members in her guild who had been asked to come.

It had started with Valoris, a knight, who had been woken up at about two in the morning by an urgent knocking at the door. The party that had been sent to the Payon caves needed help, he was told. He joined a group of around twenty knights who then took a few steps into the cave before being told to go back outside and wait.

That was when more members of Collegato began hearing knocks on their own doors. It wasn't until just before dawn that Missy walked groggily to her door to see a member of her guild, a sage named Luonnotar, on the other side. Luonnotar told Missy that Drear had asked her to come and wake her before she headed to Payon herself. He thought Missy might want to know what was going on.

On her way to meet him, Missy heard a lot of discussion over the guild link. Some of the members had already been involved in the fighting and were telling their friends what to expect. Some, like Bakten, were apparently in the cave still, and were not even available to talk.

Everything that Missy heard about the small-scale war that was being waged at the bottom of the Payon caves only made her walk faster.

"Has anyone heard from Naolin?" she inquired as she jogged through Payon toward the northeast gate.

The silence was disheartening. Everyone was waiting for someone else to speak up with news. Miguel finally spoke.

"You sure he's out here? I've been stationed in the village for a few hours now, helping with those they send out who are injured, or need to rest or restock. I haven't seen Naolin."

"He was sent in last night," Drear informed him. "Before this was…well, whatever it is now."

"Ask Valoris," Luonnotar suggested. "He was the first of all of us to get out here."

"Val just went back in," Miguel said. "His com-disc will probably be locked to the party link."

Missy stepped into Archer Village now, and stopped in her tracks. It looked like the entire population of Payon had been squeezed into this small village. Somehow she had not expected this many people. It made sense though. From what she understood, everyone of an advanced class who was in remotely good standing with their guild had been brought in. Those belonging to the recently created class guilds were in especially high demand.

If the situation had been less grave, Missy might have laughed when she spotted Dorian near the edge of the crowd. Ragged, singed clothing and hair was beginning to be a trademark for him. Despite the strong impression his appearance gave, he didn't seem to be injured, but that could have been because of the numerous priests, acolytes, and even monks and crusaders who were scattered throughout the crowd.

As she made her way through the mass of people, Missy noticed how quiet it was. There was a slight buzz, but everyone seemed to be talking in low voices. Or not talking at all. It was unnerving.

"There she is," she heard a familiar voice to her right. It was not Drear.

"Jonathan!" she greeted him in surprise. Drear was, however, next to him. She would not have expected to see the blacksmith involved in this, unless a lot of weapons were being broken in the melee.

"Good morning," he said. He was far from his usual cheerful self. In fact, he looked about like she felt – worried sick about someone he loved.

"Lark," she groaned as the realization hit her. The blacksmith nodded. Larxis was Jonathan's fiancée, a rogue.

"They came and got her a few hours ago. I'd be in there with her if I could."

"I don't doubt it." She felt the exact same way. "Do you guys know anything more than the sketchy reports I've been hearing from the guild?"

Jonathan glanced at Drear, prompting him to answer. The swordsman drew a deep breath as he prepared to fill Missy in.

"I've been here for a few hours now," he began. "Enough of the occupants of the rooms around me in the Payon inn were roused by loud, _persistent_ pounding on their doors that I had to see for myself what was going on. The guards and officials are pretty tight-lipped with anyone who's not here on official terms, but they're too busy to watch for eavesdroppers. Bottom line is that there's an army of monsters down there, like monsters right out of Glast Heim, and worse. I don't know where they came from, but I guess it might be related to the castles over there that they kicked the monsters out of."

Missy remembered. "Naolin said they'd come through from underneath. Some huge caverns that no one knew about. These are the same things?"

Drear held his hands up. "I have no idea. That whole part might just be a rumor anyway. I guess all that matters is that they came out of nowhere, and the right people went missing – killed, I guess – to raise an alarm soon enough."

"I just wish I knew where Naolin was," Missy sighed. "His group went in there last night. Shouldn't he have been back out at some point by now?"

Drear shook his head. "I heard the new hunter, Jameth, talking. His wife was in that same party as Naolin. Apparently they're keeping her pretty busy too."

Missy hadn't even known that those two had joined the guild yet, much less that Alorinna had gone on the same mission as Naolin. She reached up to smooth her hair anxiously as she looked around at the activity in the small village.

"I can't believe they were able to get so many different class guilds to work together so quickly," she mused.

"Oh yeah, it's amazing," Jonathan agreed. "Apparently they've even set up a system to warp people in and out, so they can skip all the walking through the rest of the caves."

"Hm, smart idea." The subject of warping brought up another question from Missy. "What about Yori? Is he here somewhere?"

Both guys shook their heads.

"You know Yori," Jonathan said with a light chuckle.

She did indeed. Yori was the guild's only priest so far. He was a nice guy, but it had become clear that he didn't much care for the priest guild, or the Prontera church as a whole. If they had tried to contact him, he probably said no or just ignored them anyway.

Missy watched as a wizard appeared in a clearing in the crowd, an area blocked off by a couple of Payonese guards. The wizard's leg was bleeding, and he was holding his right arm. He was ushered to an acolyte, who began to heal him immediately.

"Why are they even sending injured people out there?" she wondered. "They have healers down there, they _must_. So why…" She stopped there, knowing that neither Drear nor Jonathan would know the answer. She hadn't really meant to ask the question out loud anyway.

"Maybe they just can't keep up with it all," Drear suggested quietly.

Two more people appeared in the same place as the wizard. One was an assassin who looked like he could pass out any second, and he was being supported by a dancer, who had a number of what appeared to be shallow injures of her own.

"Have you tried asking someone in charge about Naolin yet?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from the stream of wounded fighters materializing there.

"Who would I ask?" Drear wanted to know.

He had a point. Everyone was so busy. It was not immediately evident who was in charge here, if anyone even was.

"I don't know, someone. There has to be someone." She couldn't just stand around here and wait. Not now, not when it came to Naolin. She searched Drear's eyes and could tell that this was hard on him. Like his brother, he was good at covering up his feelings when he wanted to. But she'd learned to see through Naolin's pretenses, and Drear really was similar to him in many ways.

"I'll be back," she promised, and then turned to leave before he could respond. Walking up to the first person in a guard uniform, she said, "Excuse me, I was hoping you could help me find someone--"

The man raised an arm and pointed toward his left without even looking at her.

"O-okay," she stuttered in surprise. "Thanks." She looked where he'd pointed, hoping it would be obvious who he was referring to. She'd hate to have to go back and ask again.

Fortunately, she was pretty sure she'd found the person to talk to. Even in the mess this place was, it was easy to spot the woman who was dressed in a dark pantsuit, and more importantly, was surrounded by a crowd _within_ the crowd. As Missy approached, she noticed that it was much noisier here than anywhere else in the village.

She waited impatiently as more than one person asked the woman questions about why the Payon caves were closed, and when they might be reopened. She jumped in with a question of her own as soon as she found an opening, knowing she probably should be behind so many others here. She didn't care today.

"Excuse me, is there any way I can find out about my friend who's in the caves?" she asked.

"No, look--" The woman barely gave her the slightest glance before holding her arms up and yelling to everyone around her. "Listen, people! I am not authorized to give out the names of any casualties. We have limited contact with those inside, and they are far too busy to report on the state of any specific person. I realize you are all worried about your friends and loved ones, but you are not helping by adding to this chaos." With that, the throng immediately around her began with a whole new slew of questions.

The woman had used the term "casualties" so flippantly. And Missy had certainly never said anything about casualties. Were there so many dead that it was the first place the woman's mind went when asked about the status of someone involved in the fighting?

Missy made her way back to her friends, regretting that she had no news to bring. As she approached them, she thought she heard someone call her name, though she couldn't tell from which direction it came. She stopped and looked around a little, listening carefully. When she heard nothing, she continued walking.

A few feet away from the guys, she opened her mouth to speak. She was interrupted before the first syllable.

"Hey!" someone called nearby.


	14. Chapter 14

She turned around to see a green-haired knight thundering up to her, clearly not honoring the unspoken quiet rule. He stopped when he reached her and took a second to catch his breath. He was dirty and sweaty, and had many dents and scratches in his armor. There was a small scratch over his left eye, and she wondered if it was left over from a heal, or if he was only out here to "rest and restock," as Miguel had put it.

"Hey, um, it's Missy, right?" the knight inquired. When she nodded, he asked, "Remember me, from a few years ago?"

_From when I saved your life? Of course, you dolt._ She merely replied, "Yes, Evan."

"Okay, good. Um…" He was still breathing heavily, and seemed to be trying to decide what he wanted to say to her. "Look, um, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. You know, about what happened. It's rough."

All Missy could say was, "Huh?"

"You know, what happened to your friend, Naolin."

She only stared at him blankly. Behind her, one of the guys made an indecipherable sound. Evan's eyes suddenly widened.

"Wait, you do know, right?"

"Know what?" she asked with an impatient sigh.

She couldn't believe what she saw in the knight's face. It wasn't sorrow, not quite, but more like regret.

"He, um…well, he's dead. Sorry." He immediately turned and left unceremoniously.

Missy stood still for a moment. She didn't want to turn around and face Drear. Her mind was working frantically. It didn't make sense, did it? If something had happened to Naolin, why would Evan, of all people, be the one she heard it from? She had friends in there, including one who had been in the original party with Naolin. Surely one of them would know if he was dead, and would have found some way to tell her.

By the time she felt the hand on her shoulder and heard Jonathan call her name, she was convinced that Evan was lying. It would be just the kind of thing she'd expect from him. She turned around to share the information. Before she could speak, her eyes connected with Drear's. She was completely caught off-guard by the emotion in them. She almost lost control, and had to look away quickly.

"Just wait," she told him. "Evan is…well, he's a jerk. He has always hated Naolin, and probably me, and, well, everyone but himself really. Don't take his word on this, okay?"

"Missy," Jonathan said with a warning tone, "don't--"

"I mean, look at all these people," she continued over him. "There are priests all over the place; I don't see how anyone would be left dead so long that it was too late to resurrect them."

Had she really just said that? _It's okay if he dies, as long as he doesn't stay dead._ She hadn't really meant it that way, but on the other hand, at least that would mean he was alive. Jonathan was talking again, but Missy was not paying attention. She was thinking that now there was no way she could sit around and wait for this battle to be over to find out about Naolin. Somehow she had to get down there and find some answers.

She looked around and found that there were two acolytes keeping warp portals open, which she assumed took the fighters close to the action in the cave. Between those two and the four guards near them, she'd never be able to step through. The entrance to the cave was much less guarded, but there was still one man there.

Jonathan was talking to her again. Insistently saying her name, like he wanted her attention. She looked at him.

"Missy, I'll admit that man might not have--"

His words were drowned out by a sudden uproar in the crowd. There was cheering and yelling, and overall joyfulness. Was it over? Maybe she wouldn't have to wait long for news after all. When the report reached them, though, it wasn't quite what she was hoping for.

"The Dark Illusion has been killed!" someone nearby relayed the message that had everyone so excited. Missy knew nothing about the Dark Illusion; from the sound of the reaction to its death, she could only assume that the creature had proved to be quite the obstacle. But the only thing that was important to her now was that in the chaos surrounding the celebration, the cave entrance didn't seem to be guarded.

Without taking the time to think or to tell her friends anything, she grabbed the handle of her cart and ran. Immediately Drear and Jonathan were calling after her, but she didn't look back. Weaving through the crowd, she was glad she'd left Beanbag at home today; he probably would have been dumped out of the cart. She didn't slow down until she was far enough into the cave to be blind in the near darkness. And even then, she walked quickly. She'd been down here enough to know where the walls were.

"Missy!" The nearby voice made her stop walking and look around. Had Jonathan followed her in? No, it was on her com-disc. "Where are you going?" He was talking to her over the guild link.

"Missy, come back, please." It was Drear this time, and his voice was laced with pain.

She kept moving without responding. She gripped the handle of her fire tsurugi, watching for zombies in the dim light. She was already halfway through their territory without having seen one yet. The first movement she actually saw was from a pale figure, highlighted well in the torchlight. It was a skeleton, though not like the soldiers and archers that dwelt in the lower levels.

Missy's pace didn't slow as she approached the monster and swung her sword at it. It fell to pieces with one hit, and she stopped moving for the first time, so surprised by how quickly the skeleton had died. She recovered quickly, though, and was on her way again.

The next skeleton she saw she ignored, and it ignored her. She had no idea where they'd come from, but apparently they had no interest in her. That was perfectly all right with her. She didn't see any of the zombies until she was near the stairway to the next level down. It died quickly.

She passed through the next area, stopping only once to kill a skeleton archer. She fought more vigorously than ever before, so eager was she to keep moving. She removed the arrow that had imbedded itself in her shoulder, drank a potion, and walked on. She was barely paying attention enough to notice the complete absence of the normal inhabitants of these parts, much less to care about it.

She did notice it in the halls of the munaks and bonguns, however. She had expected to be swarmed by them as usual, but instead she only encountered a few along the way, as well as one skeleton soldier. Still, they took much longer to kill than she would have preferred. She was drinking potion after potion, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that was unhealthy. She didn't care.

She was approaching the stairs that would lead to the run-down city of the sohees when she heard voices on the guild link again. Drear and Jonathan were asking about her again.

"I'm fine," she informed them as she descended the stairs. It wasn't fair to let them keep worrying about her on top of everything else.

"Missy, where the hell are you?" Jonathan exploded. Of course, he had to already know.

"I'm in the caves."

"_What_? Are you insane?"

"I'm not going to go anywhere near the fighting. I'm sure I'll come across some sort of base of operations first."

"Do you really think you'll find someone to help you there when you couldn't out here?" Drear asked, his voice much calmer than Jonathan's.

"I'm hoping they'll assume I'm part of the mission if I'm inside in the first place. I'll tell them I'm with the alchemist guild if I have to."

A new voice chimed into the conversation then. "So, um…what's going on, guys?"

"Missy's got a freaking death wish, that's what!" Jonathan thundered.

Missy was taken aback by his anger. She'd never had any siblings, but she imagined this must be what it was like to be scolded by an older brother. "Jonathan…" She didn't even know what to tell him.

Drear addressed the initial question asked by the guild's only priest. "Yori, you know about what's going on down here, right?"

"Yes," the priest affirmed. "The priest guild asked me to help." He left it there without explaining why he was, in fact, not helping.

Drear explained the situation, handling the implications of Naolin's death as if he were an objective observer.

"Oh no," Yori gasped. "Is there anything I can do to help? I can be there in five minutes."

"No," Jonathan said quickly. "No, there's no need. There are a lot of priests here. If he's dead…" he hesitated before finishing with, "it's permanent."

Missy resisted the urge to scream at Jonathan for that comment. Fortunately, she ran into a munak then, and proceeded to take her frustrations out on it. It was the third monster she'd seen in this area. The first had been a greatest general, and the second was a sohee. Both had been easy to avoid.

At this point, she was a little lost. She had not been this deep in the caves very many times, and had been guessing which way the entrance to the bottom level was. When she came to an intersection that looked far too familiar, she went a completely different direction. A couple of skeletons and a bongun later, she thought she heard voices somewhere nearby.

By this time, she had stopped bothering to drink any potions. She was vaguely aware of some sort of wound on her head, because of the drops of what could only be blood that kept dripping infuriatingly into her eye. Her cart handle was increasingly difficult to hold onto, due to being slippery, but that was probably just sweat. And one of those damn archers had shot her in the foot. Shouldn't they have better aim than that?

Her pace hadn't slowed though, and now, it actually picked up with the hope that she was close. Before she could find the source of the voices, though, she was knocked down by a small creature that she had not seen. As soon as she was on the ground, the animal went straight for her throat. She brought her arm up to block it long enough to swing her sword around and swat it off of her.

It came again right away, but she held the tsurugi at an angle that allowed the beast to cut itself on the blade. It jumped away with a yelp, and Missy took the chance to try and get to her feet. However, the creature was undeterred. Her neck was exposed again, and the monster lunged at it. Missy grimaced as she felt the sharp teeth puncture her skin.

A second later, she was blinded by a flash of light, and the animal was violently thrown off of her. She didn't move except to cover her throat, afraid that the small, but vicious, creature would return. After a few terrifying seconds, she heard footsteps approaching her.

"The nine tail is dead," said a deep, comforting voice. "Can you get up?"

She tried, but quickly found out that she couldn't. Her body hurt all over, and apparently cooperation was not an option. She tried to answer him, but all that came out was a cough.

"Oh, wow, what did you do to yourself?" the voice asked.

Missy heard some movement near her head, and then there was someone's leg on the ground in front of her eyes. The brown pant leg could have belonged to any number of class uniforms, not that Missy's mind could have properly placed it right now anyway. She tried to move again, to sit up. She had more potions in her cart.

"Stay still," the voice instructed.

Missy stopped. She hadn't gotten far anyway. A warm, green light blocked her vision for a few seconds, and she squinted. The green light came a second time, and again a third time. By the time it was done, she could barely see. But the pain was mostly gone.

"Try now," the voice suggested.

Missy felt a hand on her arm, gently pulling her up. She moved to a sitting position, still blinking from the effects of the temporary light. She could make out a hand in front of her, offering her help. She took it, and stood to her feet. The shape of the man who had helped her was rapidly coming into view. It was a priest. Or…she thought so, anyway. His robes were that of a priest, but the colors didn't fit.

Missy became aware of the sticky feeling of her hand in his, and pulled it back quickly. Looking at her hand now, she saw the blood that she had deemed to be sweat earlier. Somehow the embarrassment of soiling the priest's hand with her blood overshadowed everything else right now, including her original reason for coming down here.

"What is your name?" the man asked her, ignoring the dirty hand.

"Missy," she responded quickly, suspecting that he was checking for brain damage.

"I'm Remiel," he told her. Then he turned serious. "Missy, I cannot heal you fully. You really need to rest for a while." He eyed her cart. "How many potions have you drunk recently?"

At the same time that he was speaking, her head became filled with voices from the com-disc. They were calling her again. It made it hard to concentrate on the priest's words. She reached to the com-disc and quickly turned the guild link off.

"A lot," she answered him vaguely. She didn't care about the queasiness or fuzzy mind right now. She'd made it down here. That was all that mattered.


	15. Chapter 15

"What are you doing here?" Remiel inquired next.

"Um, well…" She had to think of a way to explain that wouldn't just get her thrown out without any answers.

The priest's gaze darted behind her suddenly, as if he'd heard something. "Come on, let's at least go back to where it's safe." He led her to the source of the voices she'd heard. They hadn't been as close as she'd thought.

They came upon a handful of people standing or sitting just outside of the entrance to the bottom she'd been looking for. They formed a circle. The perimeter was guarded by three knights and two crusaders, each with weapons drawn and ready. In the center stood a priest and a monk, a cart full of blue gems parked next to them. They must have been in charge of creating portals to warp people back outside. Next to them, another knight and a wizard sat on the hard ground, discussing something that seemed to have at least one of them in a bad mood.

Remiel stopped just short of the group, then turned to Missy again. "I think you need to go back up to the surface. You are in no shape to be involved in this mess."

"No!" Missy protested, taking a step away from the priest. "I'm not leaving here until I get the information I came for."

Remiel tilted his head to the side. "And what is that?"

A rush of words came out then. "My friend. He came down here yesterday evening with the other knights, and I know I'm supposed to wait like everyone else, but no one's seen him, and then Evan told me he was dead, but I--"

The priest held up a hand, and she stopped. "Is your friend's name Naolin?" he asked quietly.

Missy nodded with hopeful eyes. Relief flooded her body and clouded the part of her brain that might normally tell her that it was not a good thing that he so easily knew who she was referring to.

Remiel looked away for a few seconds, into the emptiness of the rest of the cave. When he looked back, his eyes were pained. He spoke slowly. "I am so sorry. What you were told is the truth. Your friend is dead."

"No," Missy shook her head firmly. _This is not what's supposed to happen! You're not supposed to agree with him!_

"It's true. I was there…I tried to help him. I'm so sorry," he repeated.

"No! If you were there, how can he be dead?"

"There are some things that even a priest cannot bring a body back from." His eyes were apologetic, and Missy hated it.

"_What_ does that mean?"

"Your friend, Naolin, his body was severed into two separate pieces. A wraith dead…bit him in half."

Missy couldn't believe what she was hearing. _You're a priest_, her mind screamed. _You could have saved him!_

As if hearing her thoughts, Remiel continued, "Even still, I knew I had to give him a chance. It has been done, bringing a body back from that, but it has to be immediate. The wraith dead had already summoned its slaves, and time was crucial. I rid us of the beasts by casting a portal to Glast Heim under the wraith dead. Its slaves were dragged along with it."

He paused in his narration, not appearing to relish what was next. "I tried. I cast the spell three times, but the blue gem remained in my hand every time." He looked at her closely, waiting for a reaction of some kind. "There was just too much damage…and I believe the wraith dead took a piece of him with it."

Her mind was having a hard time processing any of this. It just seemed far too ridiculous to be true. And coming from a priest in an outfit she'd never seen before, she still couldn't get past the feeling that this was all an elaborate hoax. Why someone would pull a prank this harsh though, she didn't know.

He sighed at her complete lack of acceptance, and asked her to follow him. He walked past the nearest guard, giving him a nod on the way by.

"Remiel," the man called after the priest had gone a few more feet. Remiel stopped and looked back. "Who's she?" the knight asked, tilting his head in the direction of the merchant.

Remiel looked at Missy for a few seconds, unsure of how to answer that. "I have a few things that belong to her; she won't stay long."

The knight seemed satisfied with the vague answer, and turned back to watching for invaders.

Missy stayed a few feet back as Remiel went to the cart of blue gems, knelt down, and picked up something from the ground next to it. He reached another hand into an inner pocket of his robe and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

Jonathan was talking to her again, over the direct link on her disc, but she ignored him.

As Remiel walked back to her, she could see what he'd picked up. It was a sheathed sword, and the hilt looked all too familiar. It was one of her father's designs, and when the priest handed it to her, she pulled the sword out far enough to confirm that it was a fire tsurugi. The first weapon Naolin had ever received from Bramen. Her eyes filled with tears as her brain began to waver in its firm belief that none of this was true.

Then the priest held the paper out to her. She refused to take it.

"I found it in his pocket after…" he explained. "It has your name on it."

With a trembling hand, Missy accepted the letter. She could already barely see as she opened it, and the tears flowed freely as she read.

_Dear Missy, _

_I hope you never read this. With any luck, you'll never even have to know this letter existed. But I need to write it anyways. I need to know this letter is here, just in case something should happen. I just can't get over the feeling that I won't leave this cave._

_If something does happen to me, don't make the same mistake I did. I wasted a lot of my time being depressed about things that couldn't be changed. I wasted a lot of time being lonely…and lonely by my own choice. Looking back, I can see it wasn't worth it._

_I was lucky enough to find you, though, and you broke me away from what seemed to be a never-ending cycle. I can't stand to think of you suffering. No matter what happens or how much it hurts, don't make that same mistake I did._

_Please tell my brother not to spend time mourning for me. I see a stronger version of myself in Drear. Tell him he was fine for so long without his older brother, and he'll be just fine without me now. He'll be better than I ever could have been. I can feel it every time I talk to him. He's going to end up doing great things. Things I'm sure neither of us could imagine now._

_Even while writing this letter, I HAVE to believe I'll make it out of here. I HAVE to believe this letter is just a waste of time. It's something I'll end up tearing to pieces and maybe telling you about someday. Maybe sometime far from now, after watching another wonderful sunset, I'll tell you about the time that the only thing I had to keep me going was how much I couldn't stand the thought of losing you._

_The next time I see you, the first thing I'll do is wrap my arms around you. I won't let go until I can find the words to properly describe how much I love you, and especially how much I've missed you. I promise._

_Until then,  
Naolin Dark_

By the time she finished, she was aware of a loud, mournful wail echoing throughout the empty cavern. It was deafening.

"Missy, talk to me, please," Jonathan was begging in her ear. "We just want to know that you're okay."

She angrily ripped the com-disc off of her sleeve and, with a scream, hurled it into the darkness. She knew she was disrupting the calmness out here, away from the fighting, the only place where calm probably existed today. She sank to her knees and buried her head in her hands. Her whole body shook with violent sobs. Her mind refused to process any thoughts beyond the painful understanding that she would never again see the man she loved.

She barely even noticed the environment changing around her, from dark, cold, quiet, to bright, warm, and bustling. The sound was the first thing that caused her to look up. The crowd had calmed down again, but it was still a contrast to the complete lack of chatter in the cave. When she raised her head, she found herself in the same place she'd seen a few people materialize earlier. Through blurry eyes, she saw that Remiel had followed her through the portal.

"Come on," he said gently, reaching down to help her up. Missy stumbled to her feet, feeling more lightheaded now than before. She let him lead her through the crowd, and everyone seemed to stare at the tear-stained merchant as she went past. Near the edge of the crowd, she heard someone calling her name. For a second, she forgot she'd thrown away her com-disc. Then she saw a familiar face in front of her.

"Missy, what happened?" Drear wanted to know. It only took one look at her face, and he knew. Their eyes met, and the pain in his was so intense that Missy had to look away, squeezing her own eyes shut tightly.

She heard Jonathan say, "Oh, no. Missy…" She felt his arm around her. Next to her ear, he whispered, "Missy, I'm so sorry." She didn't speak or even open her eyes.

"Excuse me," came the voice that Missy had once found soothing, but now struck her as the voice of death itself. "My name is Remiel. I am a high priest of the Prontera sanctuary."

Missy didn't know who he was talking to, but as long as it wasn't her, she didn't care.

He spoke quietly, as if the matter he was discussing was private. "I'm afraid she has received some very unpleasant news."

"Naolin," Jonathan guessed. It was pretty obvious by now.

"Yes. I am very sorry. I have to get back, but I wanted to leave these with her.

Missy opened her eyes to see Remiel handing Drear Naolin's tsurugi and the letter, both of which she'd left on the ground in the cave. The swordsman looked at her, but she avoided his gaze. Remiel walked to Missy and looked directly into her eyes.

"I am very sorry for your loss, Missy," he repeated once again, then reminded her, "Make sure to get some rest. Take care." With those words, he turned and left.

Missy stood unmoving, unsure of what to even do now. Jonathan was still standing next to her, with his arm around her. Drear was holding the items Remiel had given him, and looking curiously at the letter. Or rather, he was looking at something that was sitting on top of the letter.

"Is this…?" he glanced at Missy's arm. Looking at Jonathan, he sighed. "No wonder we couldn't get through to her."

He held up a com-disc, and Jonathan took it from him, dropping his other arm from her shoulders. Missy numbly held out her hand, and he dropped it into her palm. She stared at it. It was scratched, but otherwise, didn't appear to be damaged. _Resistant little bugger_. Time seemed to slow, and suddenly every mark on the small, black disc was extremely interesting.

"…Come on," Jonathan's voice broke her out of her trance. "Let's get away from this place."

"What about Lark?" Missy questioned quietly. "Don't you want to stay for her?"

"I talked to Larxis while you were gone," he explained, "and she said that they've all but pushed the monsters back into their hole now. It's just clean up that's left, and I guess they'll have to figure out a way to prevent this from happening somewhere else. I imagine that this system of caves will be the newest endeavor for young, ambitious adventurers." He eyed the other two and added, "Of course, none of that matters right now. Let's just go back to Prontera." Jonathan found an acolyte who wasn't busy and paid her for a warp.

Back in the capital city, the three walked silently to the guild blacksmith shop. Missy and Drear stepped inside, but Jonathan stopped outside the door.

"We actually just left," he said, seemingly to himself, which meant it was to someone over the com-disc. Missy sighed and reluctantly reattached her own disc, making sure to unblock the guild link as well.

"Yes, we found her—um, nothing good, I'm afraid." It must have been a direct conversation, because the guild link was silent. Clearly he was talking about Missy, and her guess was that the person on the other end was Larxis. "Yeah—I know—not doing too well."

All of a sudden, Missy felt uncomfortable listening to him, so she moved further into the shop. As she walked by Drear, he held out a hand to stop her. He held the letter, which she'd forgotten he had, out to her, and she stared at it.

"Did you read it?" she asked him, her voice cracking.

He shook his head. "It has your name on it. I wouldn't do that."

She looked up at him, making eye contact for the first time since he'd learned about Naolin's death. "It's for you too."

He looked down at the paper in his hand hesitantly.

"It's okay, read it," she urged him.

Jonathan came into the building then, keeping his distance respectfully as Drear read his brother's last words.

* * *

_A/N: Special thanks to Gamerstud who wrote the letter from Naolin, with very minimal editing from me.  
_


	16. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

Missy sat on the bench, his bench, watching the last of the golden light descend into the ocean.

"So much for watching the sunset," she whispered, wiping away fresh tears.

"Missy?"

_Naolin._

Her heart jumped into her throat as she stood up and spun around.

He stood there with a very concerned look on his face. It was Drear. He sounded so much like his brother.

Missy hated herself for reacting like that. It only made the pain worse. Naolin was gone, and she knew that.

Drear seemed to understand.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

Missy only shook her head.

"I was hoping I'd find you here." He walked over and stood next to her. "Everyone's really worried about you. You kinda disappeared after the funeral."

_The funeral._

As Naolin's only real family, it had essentially fallen on Drear and Missy to plan the funeral. Drear had contacted his parents about their first-born son's death, but their response was less than favorable. While they offered Drear condolences for the loss of "his brother," they made it clear that they felt no obligation to help with arrangements, or even attend the funeral.

Unfortunately for Drear, Missy had been little help. She tried to hold it together, to help him. But this time around, she didn't manage that so well. She worried that she was putting too much on Drear. He had just lost his brother, after all, and he'd barely had time to grieve. To his credit, though, he handled everything well.

And he was right – Missy had slipped away as soon as the funeral had ended.

"I just wanted to be alone," she told him.

"Oh…okay. I'll go then." He turned to do so.

"No," she said quickly. "No, it's okay." She forced a smile. "You don't really count in that."

He said nothing, but came back, sitting on the bench. She sat next to him.

Neither spoke. Missy wanted to say something. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was for the loss of the brother he'd only just gotten to know. She wanted to apologize for being so distant lately.

She wanted to mentally kick herself for even considering using the, "if there's anything I can do for you," line she herself had heard too many times by now.

Nothing she could think of really seemed right, so she remained silent.

After a few minutes, Drear was the first to speak. "Have you decided what you're going to do with the guild yet?"

Missy groaned inwardly. That was a subject she had definitely been avoiding. It was part of the reason she had disappeared after the funeral. Everyone wanted to know what would happen to the guild, and for whatever reason, most of them came to her with their questions. Part of her hoped that if she just stayed here on this bench for the next few weeks, everyone would eventually go their separate ways. She did have friends in the guild, though, so another part of her wanted it to stay together for that reason. But still…

"Why _is_ that a question for me exactly?" she wondered out loud.

"What do you mean, _why_? You were, like, the second-in-command. Naolin always told people that you had as much say in matters as he did."

"Maybe, but I told him over and over that I didn't want that."

Her gaze remained fixed on the waves crashing against the rocks below, but in her peripheral vision, she could see that he was staring at her. "Missy, you were his best friend. You were very important to him; I knew that from the first day I met you. He wanted you with him, by his side, leading the guild with him. And now, everyone is looking to you for answers, just like he would have wanted."

Missy's eyes filled with tears again. "But I don't know anything about leading a guild."

"And you think my brother did?" Drear countered.

A short laugh escaped her lips, but she wasn't done arguing yet. "Most of the people in the guild were wanting to participate in War of Emperium soon. That was definitely Naolin's thing; I know hardly anything about it."

"You're not alone, you know."

She turned and looked at him, and was surprised to see a smile on his face.

"You have a guild full of wonderful people who will always be willing to help in whatever way you might need. And I'm here; you know that."

She smiled back at him. He was not going to let her give up. "I'll give it my best, that's all I can promise. If it doesn't work out…"

"It will. You'll be great. I think you've underestimated what you've done for the guild already."

She could only wonder how he could have so much confidence in her. Glancing at her watch, she said, "I need to get to Al de Baran." She leaned over and gave Drear a hug, thanking him for everything. "How can you be so insightful, today of all days?" she couldn't help but ask.

He just smiled again, and said goodbye.

Ten minutes later, Missy was standing at the counter in the alchemist guild building, giving her name to the clerk there. A tall woman came up the stairs behind her.

"Missy Kay, I am so pleased to see you back," the woman greeted her warmly.

"Good evening, Darthia," Missy nodded at her.

"Come with me. Ras is waiting to administer your test, which I've no doubt you will pass easily; you have come very far recently. Are you ready to become an alchemist?"

The answer went without saying.

* * *

**The End** - of Reality Dawns and of the "Merchant's Dream" series 


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